16 Bible Verses That Show Us What True Love Is

The Bible paints a beautiful picture of love, showing us that God Himself is love. This theme appears over 500 times throughout Scripture. But what does real love look like? As we dive into these 16 verses, I hope we’ll all come to understand God’s perfect love better and learn how to love others the way He loves us.

1 Corinthians 13:4-5

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful. -1 Corinthians 13:4-5

1 Corinthians 16:14

Let all that you do be done in love. -1 Corinthians 16:14

Proverbs 3:3-4

Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you;
bind them around your neck;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
So you will find favor and good success
in the sight of God and man. -Proverbs 3:3-4

1 John 4:16

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. -1 John 4:16

1 Corinthians 13:13

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. – Corinthians 13:13

1 John 4:19

We love because he first loved us. -1 John 4:19

1 Peter 4:8

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. -1 Peter 4:8

Romans 12:9

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. –Romans 12:9

John 15:12

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. -John 15:12

1 Corinthians 13:2

And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. -1 Corinthians 13:2

Isaiah 49:15-16

Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.
Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me. -Isaiah 49:15-16

Ephesians 5:25-26

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word. -Ephesians 5:25-26

1 John 4:12

No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. -1 John 4:12

1 John 4:20

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. -1 John 4:20

John 15:13

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. -John 15:13

1 John 4:18

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. -1 John 4:18