love... what "the good book" says

there are 788 verses in my bible {english standard version} that contain the word love. {no, i did not count them. i only know because i searched the e.s.v. online bible for verses about love for this post... that number is what appeared when i entered "love" in the search field.}

have you ever done a search/study on what the bible says about love? i haven't. i should, though. with this easy way of pulling up all the verses on love, i should go through and read each one... and when i do, ask God to really teach me about his love and how he wants me to love. if i had time today, i would. instead, i skimmed through them. but some day, i think i will go back and do just that... study them all. it would have to be a multiple-day study, i would think... being that there are 788 verses to ponder. {of course, not every verse with the word "love" is about love for God or love for others... i.e. proverbs 20:13 or 22:11. and many of the verses contain a form of the word, such as "lover". so i guess i would not have to study all 788 verses.}

anyway, i thought i would post the verses that stuck out to me today... verses to go along with the photos i created with my e.s.v. bible pages. {skip to the bottom if you don't feel like reading them all... or don't have time now.}

God's love for us:

{exodus 15:13}

you have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.

{1 chronicles 16:34}

oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

{job 10:12}

you have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit.

{psalm 32:10}

many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.

{psalm 33:18}

behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love...

{psalm 33:22}

let your steadfast love, o Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.

{psalm 36:10}

oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart!

{psalm 40:11}

as for you, o Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me!

{psalm 42:8}

by day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

{psalm 57:10}

for your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.

{psalm 59:17}

o my Strength, i will sing praises to you, for you, o God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.

{psalm 63:3}

because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.

{psalm 86:5}

for you, o Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

{psalm 103:8}

the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

{psalm 119:64}

the earth, o Lord, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes!

{psalm 145:8}

the Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

{david sure liked to celebrate the love of God! okay, enough from the psalms... there are so many good ones in there, but i need to move on to other parts of the bible.}

{proverbs 8:17}

I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.

{isaiah 54:8}

"in overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer.

{romans 8:35}

who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

{romans 8:37-39}

no, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. for i am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

{hebrews 12:6}

for the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.

loving God or others:

{deuteronomy 10:12}

...what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,...

{deuteronomy 11:1}

you shall therefore love the Lord your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always.

{psalm 31:23}

love the Lord, all you his saints! the Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.

{proverbs 10:12}

hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.

{proverbs 20:6}

many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?

{matthew 5:43-44}

you have heard that it was said, "you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,...

{matthew 5:46}

...for if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? do not even the tax collectors do the same?

{matthew 6:24}

no one can serve two masters, for 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 God and money.

{matthew 22:37}

and he said to him, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."

{luke 7:47}

therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. but he who is forgiven little, loves little.

{john 3:16}

for God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

{john 13:35}

by this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

{john 15:13}

greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

{romans 8:28}

and we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

{romans 12:9}

marks of the true christian

let love be genuine. abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.

{romans 12:10}

love one another with brotherly affection. outdo one another in showing honor.

{romans 13:8}

owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

{1 corinthians 13:1}

if i speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, i am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

{1 corinthians 13:4-8}

love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. 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. love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. love never ends...

{1 corinthians 16:14}

let all that you do be done in love.

{colossians 3:12-14}

put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. and above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

{1 peter 4:8}

above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

{1 john 3:16}

by this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. but if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?

{1 john 4:7-12}

beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. in this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. in this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. no one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

{this last set of verses could also easily fall under the "God's love for us" section.}

. . .

i know this is a lot of verses. i don't expect anyone to read them all. i put them here mostly to remind myself {although, i would be happy if they served as a reminder or admonition to anyone else, too}.

i am certain i have so much to learn about love... so much to improve on in the area of love, both in love for God and love for others. i bet if i put many or all of these verses next to my bed to read each night, or read over them each morning with my coffee {or hot cocoa}, i'd be convicted of all the areas i fall short in, and/or encouraged to love differently or more throughout my day.

perhaps i will do that study after all... i can write each verse {or set of verses} out on a separate card, and keep them with me always to learn, ponder... even memorize.

i know one thing... with a kiddo on the way, i want to learn what truly loving God and others is. i want to love this child the very best i can with God's help. and also, i want him or her to see God's love through me {among other sources}.

that's my prayer for this valentine's day.