Bible Verses About Love (KJV) With Reflection
Twelve Bible verses about love from the King James Version, on God's love for us, loving our neighbor, and love that lasts, with a short prayer.
Love in Scripture is not a mood that comes and goes. It begins with God, who loved us before we could do anything to earn it, and it asks us to answer with a love that is patient, practical and costly.
A good way to use these verses is slowly. Read one in the morning, carry it through the day, and notice where it meets you: in a hard conversation, a tired household, a person you find difficult. Love is learned in small places like these.
Receive first, then give. Verses such as John 3:16, Romans 5:8 and 1 John 4:19 all point the same direction. We do not manufacture love from nothing. We are loved first, and what we give away is what we have already been given.
Love has a shape. Saint Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 13 are often read at weddings, but he wrote them to a quarrelling church. Patience, kindness, and refusing to keep score are an everyday description of how Christians treat one another.
Love drives out fear. If you are anxious that you are not enough, 1 John 4:18 and Romans 8:38-39 are meant for you. Nothing you have done or failed to do puts you beyond the reach of God's love.
A prayer for love
Lord, You loved me first, and I am still learning to believe it. Settle that truth in my heart until it is steadier than my doubts.
Make me patient where I am quick to react, and kind where I would rather be right. Soften what has grown hard in me. Show me who needs my love today, and give me the small, ordinary courage to offer it.
When love costs me something, remind me what it cost You. Amen.
A Shorter Prayer to Receive and Share Love
Lord, thank You for loving me first, before I had done anything to deserve it. Teach me to love others the way You have loved me — patiently, generously, without keeping score. When love feels hard, remind me that it was never meant to come from my own strength alone. Amen.
How to Pray With These Verses
Choose one verse and read it aloud twice, slowly. Ask yourself which word stands out, and stay with that word for a minute in silence.
Then speak to God plainly about it. If a verse stings, as 1 Corinthians 13 often does, simply say so and ask for help. Many people find it fruitful to read 1 John 4:7-21 once a week, or to write one verse on a card and keep it where they will see it.
Praying for a specific person by name while you read, someone you find hard to love, is an old and honest way to let these words do their work.
Scripture to Pray With
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16 (KJV)
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8 (KJV)
We love him, because he first loved us.
1 John 4:19 (KJV)
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.
1 John 4:7-8 (KJV)
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
1 John 4:18 (KJV)
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.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (KJV)
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
1 Corinthians 13:13 (KJV)
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.
John 13:34-35 (KJV)
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.
Matthew 22:37-39 (KJV)
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 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.
Romans 8:38-39 (KJV)
And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
Colossians 3:14 (KJV)
And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8 (KJV)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most famous Bible verse about love?
John 3:16 is the best known: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son." For a description of what love looks like in daily life, many turn to 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
Why does the King James Version say "charity" instead of "love"?
The KJV translates the Greek word agape as "charity" in 1 Corinthians 13 and some other places. It means the same self-giving love that other translations render as "love".
What does the Bible say about loving your enemies?
Jesus taught in Matthew 5:44, "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."
What are the two greatest commandments?
Jesus said they are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind, and to love your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39).
Which Bible verse says God is love?
1 John 4:8 says, "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." The same letter repeats it in 1 John 4:16.
Last updated 2026-10-10