To Love

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even tax collectors do the same?

No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.

Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, “There is one thing you lack: Go, sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

and to love Him with all your heart and with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. This is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

for he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.”

When they were unable to repay him, he forgave both of them. Which one, then, will love him more?”

Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven, for she has loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithes of mint, rue, and every herb, but you disregard justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.

Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the chief seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces.

No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.

The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in His hands.

but I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you.

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on My own, but He sent Me.

The reason the Father loves Me is that I lay down My life in order to take it up again.

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

For they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

It was now just before the Passover Feast, and Jesus knew that His hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the very end.

One of His disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at His side.

A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.

By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”

If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.”

Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words. The word that you hear is not My own, but it is from the Father who sent Me.

You heard Me say, ‘I am going away, and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.

But I do exactly what the Father has commanded Me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Get up! Let us go on from here.

As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love.

If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.

This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

This is My command to you: Love one another.

I in them and You in Me—that they may be perfectly united, so that the world may know that You sent Me and have loved them just as You have loved Me.

Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, that they may see the glory You gave Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

And I have made Your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love You have for Me may be in them, and I in them.”

When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, here is your son.”

Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it) and jumped into the sea.

When they had finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus replied, “Feed My lambs.”

Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus told him, “Shepherd My sheep.”

Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. He was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper to ask, “Lord, who is going to betray You?”

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.

But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

As He says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘My People’ who are not My people, and I will call her ‘My Beloved’ who is not My beloved,”

Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.

Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died.

Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.

Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Which do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and with a gentle spirit?

Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

But the one who loves God is known by God.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be restrained; where there is knowledge, it will be dismissed.

And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.

Earnestly pursue love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.

Do everything in love.

My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.

For through many tears I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart, not to grieve you but to let you know how much I love you.

Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, therefore all died.

in purity, knowledge, patience, and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;

But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness, and in the love we inspired in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

I am not giving a command, but I am testing the sincerity of your love through the earnestness of others.

In full view of the churches, then, show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our boasting about you.

Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not out of regret or compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.

Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!

And for the sake of your souls, I will most gladly spend my money and myself. If I love you more, will you love me less?

Finally, brothers, rejoice! Aim for perfect harmony, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.

All the saints send you greetings.

I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. What matters is faith expressing itself through love.

For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.

The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love

to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love,

of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.

From Him the whole body, fitted and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love through the work of each individual part.

and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her

In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

Nevertheless, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Peace to the brothers and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,

The latter do so in love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.

Therefore if you have any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,

then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose.

because we have heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints—

and who also informed us of your love in the Spirit.

He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son,

that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ,

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

And over all these virtues put on love, which is the bond of perfect unity.

Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

and continually recalling before our God and Father your work of faith, your labor of love, and your enduring hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Brothers who are beloved by God, we know that He has chosen you,

But just now, Timothy has returned from his visit with the good news about your faith, your love, and the fond memories you have preserved, longing to see us just as we long to see you.

And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love for one another and for everyone else, just as our love for you overflows,

Now about brotherly love, you do not need anyone to write to you, because you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another.

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of our hope of salvation.

In love, hold them in highest regard because of their work. Live in peace with one another.

We are obligated to thank God for you all the time, brothers, as is fitting, because your faith is growing more and more, and your love for one another is increasing.

and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.

But we should always thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by faith in the truth.

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who by grace has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope,

May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.

The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith.

And the grace of our Lord overflowed to me, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Women, however, will be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.

Let no one despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

But you, O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching you have heard from me, with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

You, however, have observed my teaching, my conduct, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my perseverance,

From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.

because Demas, in his love of this world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.

Older men are to be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, and sound in faith, love, and perseverance.

because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints.

I take great joy and encouragement in your love, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.

I prefer to appeal on the basis of love. For I, Paul, am now aged, and a prisoner of Christ Jesus as well.

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You above Your companions with the oil of joy.”

For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.

And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds.

For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.”

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.

Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?

If you really fulfill the royal law stated in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy,

Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.

Treat everyone with high regard: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.

Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.

But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him:

Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no cause of stumbling in him.

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.

By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death.

By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?

Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth.

And this is His commandment: that we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and we should love one another just as He commanded us.

Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.

And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.

And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

In this way, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for in this world we are just like Him.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love.

We love because He first loved us.

If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

And we have this commandment from Him: Whoever loves God must love his brother as well.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves those born of Him.

By this we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep His commandments.

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome,

The elder, To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I alone, but also all who know the truth—

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, will be with us in truth and love.

And now I urge you, dear lady—not as a new commandment to you, but one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.

And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the very commandment you have heard from the beginning, that you must walk in love.

The elder, To the beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth:

They have testified to the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who are called, loved by God the Father, and kept in Jesus Christ:

Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life.

and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood,

But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love.

I know your deeds—your love, your faith, your service, your perseverance—and your latest deeds are greater than your first.

As for those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead, I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.

They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death.

And they marched across the broad expanse of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them.