Within the scriptures, love is what binds people together against hate and dishonesty. See also Fruit of the Spirit; New Command. However, this definition is not biblical. Real love, is real love. However, love does not come easy and simply saying you love someone is different than showing it. All rights reserved. What it means is that God is always ready to wrap us in His loving arms when we turn to Him in repentance and faith. English Definition of Love The English word “love” has been used in reference to a “strong affection for another” since before the 12 th century, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary. John emphasizes repeatedly that God the Father loves the Son ( John 5:20 ; John 17:23 John 17:26 ) and that the Son loves the Father ( John 14:31 ). Yet they must love even enemies ( Luke 6:27-36 ) as a witness and a testimony. While many Christians believe love should be proven in ways other than intercourse before marriage, being a faithful and Godly partner is only half the battle of being in a relationship. From this wonderful love of God in Christ Jesus nothing in heaven or earth or hell, created or uncreated or to be created, shall be able to separate us (Romans 8:37). The word "love" comes up on almost every page of the English Bible. "Do everything in love." Love involves affection, compassion, care, and self-sacrifice. 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. "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." Love is what keeps us from fighting with our enemies and sparring with those who disagree with us. John affirms that "God is love" ( 1 John 4:8 ). "Be devoted to one another in love. Written by John the Evangelist, 1 John is all about love. LOVE. The regenerate man is able to see his fellow-man as God sees him, value him as God values him, not so much because of what he is by reason of his sin and unloveliness, but because of what, through Christ, he may become; he sees man's intrinsic worth and possibility in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:14-17). The genesis of man's salvation lies in the love and mercy of God (Ephesians 2:4). philo) in its room. Different degrees and manifestations of this affection are recognized in the Scriptures according to the circumstances and relations of life, e.g. The book of John and Psalms are both great starting places to read up on love, and how God is present within our hearts. Romans 8:39 - Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Absence of such love means, finally, eternal separation (1 Corinthians 16:22). For usage information, please read the Baker Book House Copyright Statement. The original King James Version uses the English spelling of “labour” but the New King James and other modern translations use the American English spelling of “labor”. Christ set before His followers a much higher example than that, however. He uses these words to help both believers and non-believers understand what love looks and feels like, and how it acts and sounds. It sums up the paragraph. In the Old Testament, the Song of Solomon (Song of Songs) refers to it twenty-six times, while the book of Psalms references it twenty-three. We are totally incapable of loving either God or others — a condition that must be corrected by God before we can love. Our love to God is shown in the keeping of His commandments (Exodus 20:6; 1 John 5:3; 2 John 1:6). And now he has conquered; for when the Lord demands a third time whether he loves him, he does it in the word which alone will satisfy Peter ('Lovest thou,' Gr. —Colossians 3:14, 8. Love for the brotherhood is a natural consequence of the love of the fatherhood; for "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother" (1John 3:10). In 1 Corinthians 13:1, Paul described “love†as a “more excellent way†than tongues or even preaching.The New Testament maintains this estimation of love throughout. The love demonstrated in the parable of the good Samaritan shows that agape [ajgavph] love is not emotional love, but a response to someone who is in need. But the word love describes an emotion with vastly differing degrees of intensity. he uses the Greek word agapas ; and when Simon answers, he uses the Greek word philo , i.e., "I love." Our love should be "without hypocrisy" (Romans 12:9); there should be no pretense about it; it should not be a thing of mere word or tongue, but a real experience manifesting itself in deed and truth (1John 3:18). Jesus Himself declared that all the law and the prophets hang upon love (Matthew 22:40; Mark 12:28-34). In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:16 “And we have known and believed the love … Love bears the infirmities of the weak, does not please itself, but seeks the welfare of others (Romans 15:1-3; Philippians 2:21; Galatians 6:2; 1 Corinthians 10:24); it surrenders things which may be innocent in themselves but which nevertheless may become a stumbling-block to others (Romans 14:15,21); it gladly forgives injuries (Ephesians 4:32), and gives the place of honor to another (Romans 12:10). Copyright © 2021, Bible Study Tools. Honor one another above yourselves." The key concepts to remember are: love is trusting in our God, love is being faithful to your partner and families, and love is being kind and patient with the world around you. Bible Verses About Love. Love can seem like a simple concept before reading the Bible. Our redemption from sin is to be attributed to God's wondrous love; "Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back" (Isaiah 38:17; compare Psalms 50:21; 90:8). The Holy Trinity in the Bible Verse When we think about the Bible, we think of it as being a testament to Jesus and all of the love he has given to His people. The word "hate" in these passages does not mean to hate in the sense in which we use the word today. The Bible says that God is love (I John 4:8, 16). The Bible says that God is love and that humans crave love from the moment of existence. The Bible has a lot to say about the bonds of love and devotion. This is the usage in the first and second questions put by our Lord; but in the third our Lord uses Simon's word. Now this verse is often misquoted as saying, “Money is the root of all evil.” Notice how “money” is substituted for “love of money” and “the root of all evil” is substituted for “a root of all kinds of evil.” These changes, while subtle, have an enormous impact on the meaning of the verse. In fact, "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love" ( 1 John 4:8 ). Its opposite is called phobia. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. Nor should the fact be overlooked that God loves not only the whole world, but each individual in it; it is a special as well as a general love (John 3:16, "whosoever"; Galatians 2:20, "loved me, and gave himself up for me"). It is because of the love of the Father that we are granted a place in the heavenly kingdom (Ephesians 2:6-8). —Ephesians 4:2-3, 9. Love is alive on your wedding day and in the moment your baby is born. This shows the English words related to the source biblical texts along with brief definitions. It is also stimulated by the example of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, more than anyone else, manifested to the world the spirit and nature of true love (John 13:34; 15:12; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 5:25-27; 1 John 4:9). Following this commandment is the key Jesus Christ gave us for loving others as God loves us. A neighbor is anyone who is in need. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. Matt. Love in the heart of man is the offspring of the love of God. This kind of love sacrifices self and pleases God. He is to be chosen before father or mother, parent, or child, brother or sister, or friend (Matthew 10:35-38; Luke 14:26). 4 Love is patient, love is kind. Like love, sin is also something we do. Love stands for more than just romantic attraction or strong feelings towards those close to you; it also stands for the truth, respect, and obedience Christians hold for God. —1 John 4:12, 10. We become idolaters, focusing a part or all of our love elsewhere. God does not merely love; he is love. Jesus serves as the believer's model ( John 14:21 ; Php 2:5-8 ). This love is also created in the heart of man by the Holy Ghost (Romans 5:5), and is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). "Love the Lord Your God." The qualities which should characterize the love which we are to manifest toward our fellow-men are beautifully set forth in 1 Corinthians 13. When our Lord says, "Lovest thou me?" This was a startling truth for Nicodemus to learn, who conceived of God as loving only the Jewish nation. Psalmsis the only Biblical book that has chapter 111. Loving reproof and chastisement are necessary oftentimes for growth in holiness and righteousness. Nor should it be overlooked that our Lord commanded His children to love their enemies, those who spoke evil of them, and despitefully used them (Matthew 5:43-48). God loves the world (John 3:16; compare 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9). Because the Father loves the Son, he made his will known to him. Love is alive at the dinner table as you give thanks for the family and food before you. of Whatever love there is in man, whether it be toward God or toward his fellowman, has its source in God--"Love is of God; and every one that loveth is begotten of God, and knoweth God. We are "love breakers" more than "law breakers.". As love is the highest expression of God and His relation to mankind, so it must be the highest expression of man's relation to his Maker and to his fellow-man. In this last passage the exhortation to supreme love to God is connected with the doctrine of the unity of God (Deuteronomy 6:4)--inasmuch as the Divine Being is one and indivisible, so must our love to Him be undivided. The Definition of Love in the Bible tells you what love is not. Those who love God will hate evil and all forms of worldliness, as expressed in the avoidance of the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life (Psalms 97:10; 1 John 2:15-17). Whatever there may be in his surroundings that would draw the soul away from God and righteousness, that the child of God will avoid. In the Bible it is a fact that loving God is equated with obeying His Word. Matthew 22:39 Translation & Meaning. God's love is manifested by providing for the physical, mental, moral and spiritual needs of His people (Isaiah 48:14,20,21; 62:9-12; 63:3,12). Some scripture references/categories courtesy of Open Bible .info under CC BY 3.0 John helps those who read the Holy Bible to discover what love is. What, then, is more vital than to possess such love? Christianity is the only religion that sets forth the Supreme Being as Love. "For the father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me" (John 16:27). Salem Media Group. Genesis 22:2 | View whole chapter | See verse in context And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou love st, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. According to the teaching of Jesus we are to supersede this standard: "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another" (John 13:34). © 2021 by Tango Media Corporation All Rights Reserved. It is patient and without envy; it is not proud or self-elated, neither does it behave discourteously; it does not cherish evil, but keeps good account of the good; it rejoices not at the downfall of an enemy or competitor, but gladly hails his success; it is hopeful, trustful and forbearing--for such there is no law, for they need none; they have fulfilled the law. We show love in many ways: holding someone's hand when they are scared, calling a friend to ask if they got home safe, or even through acts in marriage. "God Is Love." In these Scriptures God is seen manifesting His power in behalf His people in the time of their wilderness journeying and their captivity. John is also prevalent in his teachings of love in 2 John, where he discusses the truth about the "L-word." "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." The Bible's ways of describing this process of correction are numerous: "circumcision of the heart" ( Deut 30:6 ); God's "writing his laws" on our hearts ( Jer 31:33 ); God's substituting a "heart of flesh" for a "heart of stone" ( Eze 11:19 ); being "born again" by the Spirit ( John 3:3 ; 1 John 5:1-2 ); removing old clothing and replacing it with new ( Col 3:12-14 ); dying to a sinful life and resurrecting to a new one ( Col 3:1-4 ); moving out of darkness into light ( 1 John 2:9 ). 22. agapas) on the lips of the Lord seems to Peter at this moment too cold a word, as though his Lord were keeping him at a distance, or at least not inviting him to draw near, as in the passionate yearning of his heart he desired now to do. It immediately follows His commandment of loving God with all your heart, mind and soul. "Love the Lord Your God with All Your Heart." Ephesians 2:4 f sets forth in a wonderful way how our entire salvation springs forth from the mercy and love of God; "But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ," etc. It demands a practical outworking in everyday life placing a retaining wall around the roof to keep people from falling ( Deut 22:8 ); not taking millstones in pledge, thus denying someone the ability to grind grain into flour ( Deut 24:6 ); allowing the poor to glean leftovers from the orchards and fields ( Lev 19:9-12 ). It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Obedience to God ( Deut 6:7 ; 7:9 ) and renunciation of the world-system ( 1 John 2:16 ) are critical elements of our love of God. Paul affirms that "the entire law is summed up in a single command: Love your neighbor as yourself'" ( Gal 5:14 ). 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