Theme · theological
Love
God's love is first expressed in creation itself — calling the world into being and declaring it good. The covenant with Israel is cast in the language of love: 'I have loved you with an everlasting love.' Hosea dramatizes divine love through a prophet who pursues a faithless spouse. Jesus distills the entire law into two commands: love God with all your being, and love your neighbor as yourself. The cross is love's ultimate expression — 'Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.' John declares simply that God is love.
Passages expressing this theme
- 1Cor 13:4 — Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
- 1Cor 13:7 — Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
- 1Cor 13:13 — And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
- Col 3:14 — And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
- Deut 6:5 — And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
- Deut 7:7 — The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:
- Deut 7:8 — But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen,
- Deut 10:12 — And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy s
- Eph 3:17 — That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
- Eph 3:18 — May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
- Eph 5:25 — Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
- Gal 5:22 — But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
- Gen 1:27 — So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
- Hos 2:19 — And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
- Hos 11:1 — When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
- Isa 54:10 — For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.
- Jer 31:3 — The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
- Matt 5:44 — But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
- Matt 22:37 — Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
- Matt 22:39 — And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
- Mic 6:8 — He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
- Prov 10:12 — Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.
- Ps 36:7 — How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
- Ps 86:15 — But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
- Ps 103:11 — For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.