10 Things the Bible Tells Us about Love

1. God is the originator of love.

“We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Without God, we would not be capable of loving. It is something he put in us.

God develops our character as we walk with him, and the longer we walk with God, the more people will begin to see what God looks like, because God is love. He tells us in 1 John 3:2 that one day we will totally look like our heavenly Father. Oh what a day that will be. No one will have to guess who our dad is.

Photo credit: Unsplash.com

2. Love gives.

When we were young, we loved others because of what they could do for us, what they could give us. We loved our siblings because they played with us. We loved our friends because they made us happy. And we even loved and still love things like pizza and our new phones.

But as we matured, we realized that love is deeper than that. When we love someone we want to give to them, not just take. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Because love gives. 

Photo credit: ©Thinkstock/DS011

3. God values love.

Love requires that we think of the other person; that we put their needs ahead of our own. The message the world gives is that we deserve it. We are number one. But that message is different than the one the Bible gives us. The Bible teaches that we are to think of Jesus and how he loved selflessly. He came to serve others, not that others would serve him.

Hebrews 12:2 tells us Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame. Why? Because he gave what he valued most, because of his love. There is no love that’s more powerful. And in John 15:13, the Bible says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Photo credit: Pexels.com

4. Love listens.

If we’re thinking of another person, we’ll want to know what they are feeling, what their needs are. We learn this by listening.

When we pray, God is always listening. And he goes further, inviting us to cast our cares on him (1 Peter 5:7). Why does he do that? Because God is concerned about whatever we’re concerned about. When my 3-year-old grandson, Charlie, lost his Lightning McQueen car, his heart was troubled. Because I love Charlie, his hurt became my hurt. And when we prayed and God let us find his precious car, three of us were smiling. Charlie, me, and God.

Photo credit: ©Thinkstock/Hiroki Ishida/a.collectionRF

5. Love protects.

When God loves us he puts a shield of protection around us. He is always available to us whenever we need him, and he makes sure his angels look after us as well. Just as a loving Father looks out for his children, our heavenly Father looks out for his children. He shields us and lets us hide under his shadow.

“They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone” (Psalm 91:12). This is saying we are protected. God will help us no matter what happens in our lives. 

Photo credit: Pexels.com

6. Love forgives.

One of the best things about love is that it holds hands with grace. That means when someone wrongs you, you still extend grace. You still forgive. How many times? Seventy times seven times. Just like God keeps forgiving us, over and over again. Forgiving means we no longer hold it against the person. We don’t resent them, we don’t keep score. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Hebrews 8:12)

“Remember the time you were angry with me because…” my husband asked. “No I don’t remember that,” I responded. “Wow, you really did forgive me,” he said. That’s how God wants us to forgive. Forgive and forget.

Photo credit: ©Thinkstock/weerapatkiatdumrong

7. Love is personal.

When I was a cashier in a grocery store, the cashier at the next counter received some flowers from a customer. “Aren’t they beautiful?” she asked me. “Those are nice,” I smiled back. But secretly I thought, I like lilies of the valley. Ten minutes later, a woman approached me at my register and in her outstretched hand she held my favorite flower. “These are for you,” she said. I gasped and pinned them to my uniform. It was a day I have never forgotten. The day God gave me flowers.

Over and over God shows us his tender love in special ways. Maybe it’s the job we wanted, the healing of a loved one. And maybe it’s a sprig of lilies of the valley.

Photo credit: ©Thinkstock/Jupiterimages

8. Love stays.

So many things in our lives are temporary. Our jobs, our technology, sometimes even our relationships. People unfriend people every day. But our relationship with God is different. He started the relationship the day we trusted in His Son. And he’s committed to us for all of life. He isn’t going anywhere.

That’s a hard thing to grasp if you’ve been the recipient of a broken relationship. Someone promised you they’d love you, and that promise and your heart were broken. But God keeps his promises. And he said he would never leave us nor forsake us. We can count on him.

Photo credit: ©Thinkstock/kevron2001

9. Love disciplines.

Of all the ways God loves us, discipline doesn’t always feel like love. God tells us in Hebrews 12:6, why he disciplines us: “Because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” When we mature, we learn love requires discipline. It requires correction. We come to realize it is in the hard things that the greatest lessons are hidden.

When a child runs out in the street, a loving parent has to discipline that child. It is for the child’s protection. And when we put our trust in God, he makes even our pathways straight.

Photo credit: ©Thinkstock

10. Love comforts.

When I accidentally closed the car door on my young son’s fingers, he looked up with eyes full of tears and asked, “Mom, why did you do that?” 

Sometimes we can’t believe God would allow the hurts in our lives. But the longer we know him, the more we trust his character and we lean on him, even when things get hard. Because we know he’s right here with us.

When we care about someone, we want to help them when they are hurting. 2 Corinthians 1:4 says God “... comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” He left us his Holy Spirit because he wanted to make sure we were comforted. That’s what love does.

Anne Peterson is a poet, speaker, and published author of 14 books including her poetry series, He Whispers: poetic conversations with God. She has also published children’s books where she tucks truths inside. You can visit her author page here, or learn more about her on her website. She is a regular contributor to Crosswalk.com.

Photo credit: ©Thinkstock/KatarzynaBialasiewicz