NinefruitWhat is love in the Bible?
Love (Greek: agapē) is one of the nine fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. Love in Galatians 5 is the self-giving kind: choosing someone else's good, even when it costs you. Paul lists it first, and the rest of the fruit grows out of it.
What love looks like
- Listening fully, without planning your reply
- Forgiving without keeping a record
- Helping when no one will notice
Counterfeit: Being nice to people so they like you back.
Opposite: Indifference, resentment and keeping score.
15 Bible verses about love
Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud,
1 Corinthians 13:4 (WEB)
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another.
John 13:34 (WEB)
Beloved, let’s love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:7 (WEB)
We love him, because he first loved us.
1 John 4:19 (WEB)
Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.
Romans 13:10 (WEB)
And above all things be earnest in your love among yourselves, for love covers a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8 (WEB)
Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.
Colossians 3:14 (WEB)
Let all that you do be done in love.
1 Corinthians 16:14 (WEB)
“This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.
John 15:12 (WEB)
But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8 (WEB)
My little children, let’s not love in word only, or with the tongue only, but in deed and truth.
1 John 3:18 (WEB)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only born Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
John 3:16 (WEB)
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:7 (WEB)
A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
Matthew 22:39 (WEB)
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love.
1 John 4:18 (WEB)
3 ways to practise love today
- Notice someone: Pick someone you see often but rarely think about. Fill in See Them for them.
- What are they carrying?: Choose someone and ask them one real question this week. Note what you learned in See Them.
- Love that costs something: Plan one act of love that costs you time or comfort. Do it, then mark it done.
In the Ninefruit app, the love journey has five stages and its own tool, See Them: Choose one person. Notice what they're carrying, name what they need, and plan one concrete act of love.
A prayer for love
Lord, love through me today, especially toward the person I find hardest.
Is love your strongest fruit, or your growing one? Take the free test.