What the Bible Says About Love
For the week of April 19-25, 2026
FREE PREVIEW: What the Bible Says About Love
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Introduction
The word “love” is one of the most used and most misunderstood words in any language. We use it to describe our feelings about pizza, our devotion to family, and our relationship with God — all in the same afternoon. But the Bible refuses to let love remain vague. From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture defines love with stunning precision, traces it back to its only true source, and then commands us to practice it with our whole lives. What the Bible says about love is both more demanding and more beautiful than anything the world has ever imagined.
I. Love’s ORIGIN — God Is the Source (1 John 4:7–8)
“Beloved, let’s love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7–8).
Love does not begin with us. It does not begin with romance, family affection, or even religious devotion. Love begins with God — because love is not merely something God does. It is something God is. Every true expression of love in this world is a reflection, however dim, of the eternal nature of the God who made it.
II. Love’s OBLIGATION — We Are Commanded to Love (John 13:34–35)
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34–35).
Jesus does not present love as a feeling we fall into or a sentiment we cultivate when conditions are right. He commands it. And the standard He sets is not our own emotional state or the worthiness of the person in front of us — it is His own love for us. The bar is high because the stakes are high: the watching world will recognize the disciples of Jesus by this love alone.
III. Love’s OPERATION — Love Is Proven by Action (1 John 3:18)
“My little children, let’s not love in word only, or with the tongue only, but in deed and truth” (1 John 3:18).
Biblical love is not a feeling that waits for the right moment to act. It is a decision that moves toward the need in front of it. John, the apostle of love, makes it unmistakably clear: love that only speaks is not love at all. Real love shows up, gives, sacrifices, and proves itself in the concrete details of daily life.
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