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Bible Verses About Loving God and Loving Others
When a lawyer asked Jesus to name the greatest commandment, He gave two and said everything else hangs on them: love God with all your heart, and love your neighbour as yourself. Love is not one biblical theme among many — it is the summary of the whole law and the defining mark Jesus gave His disciples: "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
The King James Version often renders this love as "charity," especially in 1 Corinthians 13 — not charity in the modern sense of donations, but love in action: patient, kind, keeping no record of wrongs. That chapter is worth memorizing precisely because it measures love by behavior rather than feeling.
These eleven verses cover love’s three directions — God’s love commanded toward us, our love for Him, and our love for one another. Memorized, they become a standing answer to the daily question of how to treat the people in front of you.
KJV verse list
11 Bible verses about loving others
Each verse below is shown in the King James Version. Read it slowly, then use the note beneath it to see why it is worth carrying with you.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
The Bible’s fullest portrait of love — "charity suffereth long, and is kind" — and a practical checklist for every relationship.
John 13:34-35
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Jesus’ "new commandment" makes love the identifying badge of His disciples.
Matthew 22:37-39
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. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
The two greatest commandments — love God, love neighbour — summarize the entire law in two sentences.
1 John 4:7-8
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
"God is love" — love is grounded in God’s own character, and loving others is evidence of knowing Him.
1 John 4:19
We love him, because he first loved us.
Eight words in the KJV — "We love him, because he first loved us" — that explain where all love starts.
John 15:13
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
"Greater love hath no man than this" defines love’s upper limit: laying down your life, which Jesus then did.
1 Peter 4:8
And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
"Charity shall cover the multitude of sins" — fervent love is the climate in which relationships survive failure.
Romans 12:9-10
Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
"Let love be without dissimulation" — love without pretending, with brotherly kindness and preferring one another.
Romans 13:10
Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
One line of theology worth carrying everywhere: "love is the fulfilling of the law."
1 John 3:18
My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
Love "in deed and in truth," not just "in word" — the verse that moves love from sentiment to action.
Colossians 3:14
And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
"Above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness" — love as the belt that holds every other virtue together.
Memorization help
How to memorize these verses
Start with the short declaratives — 1 John 4:19 and Romans 13:10 are each a single line — then work up to 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, which is best learned phrase by phrase since each clause ("suffereth long," "is kind," "envieth not") is its own small unit. A helpful exercise as you review: substitute your own name where the KJV says "charity" and let the verse examine you. The Bible Memory App’s typing-based review is well suited to a passage like this where the clause order is easy to jumble.
The Bible Memory App turns that practice into a daily habit: type each verse from memory, get instant feedback on every word, and review on a schedule so the verses stay with you for years, not days. It is free to start, and you can add any of the verses above in seconds.
FAQ
Questions about Bible verses on loving others
What is the best Bible verse about love?
For God’s love, John 3:16; for the definition of love itself, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ("Charity suffereth long, and is kind..."); for love as a command, John 13:34-35. If you can only memorize one, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 gives you a working definition you will use for the rest of your life.
Why does the King James Bible say "charity" instead of "love"?
The KJV translators rendered the Greek word agape as "charity" in passages like 1 Corinthians 13, following the Latin caritas. It means self-giving love in action, not donations. Elsewhere the KJV translates the same Greek word as "love," so the two terms are interchangeable in meaning.
What did Jesus say about love?
Jesus named loving God and loving your neighbour as the two greatest commandments (Matthew 22:37-39), gave His disciples a "new commandment" to love one another as He loved them (John 13:34), and even commanded love for enemies (Matthew 5:44). He defined the greatest love as laying down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15:13).
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