The Bible has a great deal to say about love. This study gathers passages from across Scripture and sets them out for reading and reflection.
What Scripture Says
Love in Scripture is not a single, simple thing. The word covers a wide range of loves—from the craving for a favorite meal to the covenant loyalty of a friend, from the devotion God commands to the ruinous attachments He warns against. In Genesis 27:4, Isaac asks for “savoury meat, such as I love,” showing that love in its most ordinary sense is woven into daily life and appetite. Yet even family love can be twisted: 1 Samuel 18:22 records Saul using David’s popularity and the people’s love as a political tool, and 2 Samuel 1:26 gives us David’s grief over Jonathan, whose love was “wonderful, passing the love of women.” Human love is real and deep, but it is not automatically pure.
The greatest weight of Scripture falls on love as covenant loyalty toward God. Again and again, God shows “mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:6; Deuteronomy 5:10). Nehemiah 1:5 calls Him the God “that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments.” Joshua 22:5 ties love to walking in God’s ways, keeping His commandments, cleaving to Him, and serving Him with all the heart and soul. Judges 5:31 pictures those who love God as the sun rising in its might. This love is not mere feeling; it is proven by obedience and endurance.
But Scripture also exposes love that goes wrong. Solomon “clave unto these in love” (1 Kings 11:2)—foreign wives who turned his heart after other gods. Jehu rebuked Jehoshaphat: “Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD?” (2 Chronicles 19:2). Psalm 4:2 asks how long men will “love vanity, and seek after leasing,” and Proverbs 1:22 asks how long the simple will “love simplicity.” Love can be set on worthless things. And love of neighbor is commanded without exception: “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:18). Ecclesiastes 3:8 reminds us there is “a time to love, and a time to hate”—love is not blind, but discerning.
Living It Out
Begin by asking what your love is actually set on. It is easy to love comfort, approval, or a favorite habit more than we love God, and Solomon’s story shows where that leads. The test Scripture gives is simple: does your love for God produce obedience? Do you keep His commandments, walk in His ways, and serve Him with all your heart? If not, your love may be sentiment rather than covenant loyalty. At the same time, refuse to let love of neighbor become mere politeness. Leviticus 19:18 forbids holding a grudge and taking revenge. That means releasing the debt someone owes you and choosing their good without waiting to feel like it.
Also learn that love must be discerning. Jehoshaphat’s mistake was loving those who hated the LORD; Psalm 4 warns against loving vanity. You cannot love everything at once. Some loves must be resisted, and some attachments must be broken. Ask God to give you a heart that clings to Him first, then loves neighbor as yourself—not as a feeling that comes and goes, but as a settled practice.
Reflection
- When you examine your week, what do your habits and choices show that you actually love most—and does that match what you say you love?
- Is there a grudge or a wrong you are still holding against someone, and what would it look like this week to love that person as yourself instead of seeking revenge?
Verses to Consider
- Genesis 27:4 — And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.
- Exodus 20:6 — And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
- Leviticus 19:18 — Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 5:10 — And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
- Joshua 22:5 — But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.
- Judges 5:31 — So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.
- 1 Samuel 18:22 — And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee: now therefore be the king’s son in law.
- 2 Samuel 1:26 — I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.
- 1 Kings 11:2 — Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.
- 2 Chronicles 19:2 — And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD.
- Nehemiah 1:5 — And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:
- Psalms 4:2 — O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.
- Proverbs 1:22 — How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
- Ecclesiastes 3:8 — A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Where These Come From
These verses are drawn from different parts of the Bible on purpose. A subject is rarely settled by a single line; the whole counsel of Scripture gives the shape of it.