Love. A word so overused it often loses its weight, and yet it’s definitely one of the central themes in the Bible.  Scripture says a lot about love, why it’s such a big deal, and how it’s meant to shape us.

Love is Seen as an Action

Jesus didn’t need much more than two statements to make his point:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.”

Matthew 22:37 (NASB)

“Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Matthew 22:39 (NASB)

Simple, right? Except it’s not. Loving God with everything you’ve got means your priorities, your time, your thoughts, and your actions all orbit Him. Loving your neighbor isn’t that simple either, it’s pretty much everyone, and given our global reach this is probably a lot harder for us to achieve today than it was thousands of years ago. An annoying neighbor deserves just as much love as our brothers and sisters on the other side of the planet.

God’s Love for Us

God doesn’t just ask us to love; He models it perfectly.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.”

John 3:16 (NASB)

God’s love isn’t passive. It’s sacrificial. He gave His Son not because we deserved it but because He wanted to reconcile us to Himself.

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:8 (NASB)

This love isn’t based on who we are or what we’ve done. It’s entirely about who He is.

Different Kinds of Love

The Bible speaks of love in a whole bunch of different ways, and understanding these can help us see our relationships differently:

• Agape – Unconditional, self-sacrificial love. This is God’s love for us and the kind we’re called to have for others.
• Phileo – Brotherly love, like the bond between friends. Think David and Jonathan.
• Eros – Romantic love, designed by God for marriage. Celebrated in Song of Solomon.
• Storge – Family love, the kind that binds parents to children and siblings to each other.

1 Corinthians 13: The Love of Chapter

You’ve probably heard it at weddings, but this passage isn’t just romantic fluff. It’s a gut-check list of what love looks like:

“Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit, it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered…”

1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (NASB)

Take a moment and replace the word “love” with your own name. How are you doing? Yeah, same here.

Love Your Enemies

Perhaps the hardest command of all. Jesus said:

“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

Matthew 5:44 (NASB)

This, for me, is one of the hardest statements in the bible to really execute. Love isn’t about warm fuzzies; it’s about choosing grace over revenge, forgiveness over bitterness.

Some Applications of Love

In Marriage:

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.”

Ephesians 5:25 (NASB)

That’s a high bar. Marriage isn’t just a contract; it’s a reflection of God’s covenant love.

In Parenting:

“Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he grows older he will not abandon it.”

Proverbs 22:6 (NASB)

Loving kids means guiding them, disciplining them, and pointing them to Christ.

In the Church:

“By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.”

John 13:35 (NASB)

Love in the body of Christ isn’t optional—it’s how the world sees Jesus.

In the World:

Loving our neighbors means feeding the hungry, speaking truth with kindness, and showing up for the hurting.

Love as a Reflection of God

“We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.”

1 John 4:16 (NASB)

God doesn’t just have love; He is love. Every time we love, we reflect Him.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright ©, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org