These 10 biblical ways to show love help us build good relationships and share the love of God. When we love others, we demonstrate what the love of God looks like. Bible verses on love teach us many practical ways to love one another well. This post features an excerpt on loving one another from my award-winning book, Holy in the Moment.
My daughter loved to draw when she was little. With fingers curled around chunky crayons, she drew pictures of houses, flowers, and sunshine. Her favorite thing to draw was the people in our family giving each one of us big eyes, wide smiles, and stick-drawn arms. At times, one person was as big as the house, with fingers touching the sun peeking out of the top of the page. Assuming the big person was Daddy, I asked, “Who’s this?”
With the candor of a four-year-old, she announced, “Me!”
A perfectly natural way to see the world for a child, but every now and then, I revert back to my child-self, loving others as if I’m the sky-reaching, cloud-catching person who fills the whole picture.
Understanding how easy it is to love from self rather than the nature of Christ within, the apostle Paul instructed the Philippians: “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:3-5).
Our new identity loves others with patience, kindness, and forgiveness, but we must unlearn the old tendencies to react with the flesh—impatience, pride, selfishness, and resentment.
Learning to love with the fullness of agape is the un-selfing of our souls.
Love Is How Holiness Builds Relationships
Reach for holiness and express agape through your thoughts, words, and actions. Choose to love in the nitty-gritty minutes of your day. When your husband forgets to take out the trash, choose patience. Frustrated with the kids? Self-control can harness irritation. When a friend seems to have the perfect family, refuse to be envious. When love is difficult, hold on to hope and keep praying.
Sounds simple doesn’t it?
Simple doesn’t always equal easy.
Choose to receive this agape-love of Christ and let it flow out to those around you in the choices you make. Abiding and resting in Christ enables you to make the most of your life by sharing what you’ve been given.
Filling up with God’s love energizes the words you say and how you spend your time. What will happen when you take it one moment at a time, depending on Jesus to empower you to give your very best self in loving others? How will your relationships be different?
“Every moment is an opportunity to practice a gesture of love.”—John Ortberg, The Me I Want to Be
What can happen when we set aside our petty differences, the things that don’t matter but divide? Forgiving one another is one of the love-one-another ways God matures and completes (perfects) us.
Power ignites when we give what we have received—the needed blessing of acceptance healing to the soul—accept one another. When we overcome selfishness to serve one another, we demonstrate the love of God to a world that doesn’t know God.
10 Biblical Ways to Show Love
Here are a few of the many passages that teach us how to show Christian love. When we love others, we demonstrate what the love of God looks like. The Bible shows us many practical ways to love others. Which one of these actions of love do you most need to give in your relationships right now?
- Be devoted and give preference to one another (Romans 12:10).
- Build up one another (Romans 14:19).
- Accept one another (Romans 15:7)
- Care for one another (1 Corinthians 12:25).
- Serve one another (Galatians 5:13).
- Bear one another’s burden. (Galatians 6:2).
- Be kind, tender-hearted and forgiving with one another (Ephesians 4:32).
- Regard others as more important (Philippians 2:3).
- Bear with and forgive complaints against others (Colossians 3:13).
- Encourage and esteem one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11-14).
Don’t we love it when other people do these things for us? I can hear you thinking, I’d love to do these things, but I can’t keep up with my life as it is. How do I find time?
God will give many opportunities in the midst of our day to encourage others. So as you go, love one another in practical ways fitting the moment.
Love in one simple way at a time.
Small daily acts of intentionality turn bad days around, and as we express the love of Christ, loving one another is a powerful way God turns lives around. Share on XDon’t miss the moment, for when we listen to Jesus, living out of our true identity—in Christ, holy hearts say yes to loving one another. And as we do, our view of others increases as our focus on self decreases in the light of love.
What is one simple way you can make a difference in someone’s life with a simple act of love?
Holy in the Moment
Holy in the Moment is a powerful encouragement for anyone who struggles to overcome anxiety, perfectionism, insecurity, or other mindsets that hold us back. Grow in holiness without the pressure to have everything “just right.” Through gentle encouragement, biblical insights, and applicable ideas you can experience a deeper life of freedom in Christ. Transparently sharing my own struggles, I want to help you live from the reality of hope, healing, and holiness. Learn more here or grab a copy here. Join the Holy in the Moment Facebook Group for encouragement and an engaged reading experience! Request to join today.
Printable Quotes on Love
Check out this free collection of printable quotes on love. Free with sign up for my newsletter, you can download this PDF from my Subscriber Library. Click here to sign up.
More Posts for Stronger Relationships
- Holy Moments Are for Loving One Another
- 25 Good Habits for the Art of Friendship
- Will I Love My Neighbor?
- Live Love This Valentine’s Day
- 16 Ways to Love People Better
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So glad you're here. I help busy women—gals like you— build healthy habits for living well with biblical wisdom and practical steps to deepen your faith, increase your hope, and thrive in your purpose.
Thank you for these beautiful reminders of ways to love well. Thank you also for that convicting advice on not letting my self consume the space in the picture.
Hi Friend, so good to see you in this space today. Thanks for dropping in and leaving a word. I’m glad these have inspired you to practice loving others with fresh energy. Blessings to you today!
I have loved the message. I hope to share it with others
I’m so glad this message has been helpful and meaningful for you. I know God will show you when and how to share the importance of sharing the love of God with others. Blessings to you!
Thanks for this
I’m grateful because I’m growing up in love
Hi Michael,
Yes, me too. I hope we are all growing in both our ability to receive the love of Christ and to share that love with others by loving them well. Thanks for joining the conversation!
Hi, am so much blessed with these Biblical ways of showing love. They are really amazing and blessing
Love is our deepest need and our greatest gift. I’m so thankful that God has loved us and in the process, enabled us to love as well. Be blessed today, and may God pour out his great love in and through you.
Really showing love to others and sharing this powerful message by it self is blessing and strengthening the tie with God. Remain blessed!!
Thank you for your kind thoughts, Adamu! May God empower you to love others with the love of Christ in all that you do. Blessings to your relationships.
What a good explanation, so on point!
I’m so glad this was helpful for you, Julene! We know we should love others well. We want to. But sometimes we struggle with ideas of what that looks like in the practical everyday things. When we experience conflice, pain, or disappointment, it’s even more challenging to show love. I am grateful the Bible gives us so many tangible truths about loving well! May you be blessed as you love the people God brings into your life!
Great post! I think you meant Ephesians 4:32, not Ephesians 4:3, though. 🙂
Hey there, good catch on my typo! Sometimes my fingers can’t keep up with my head. Appreciate the heads up. So glad you enjoyed the post. Blessings to you and yours!
Hi, Thank you so much for this post. I’m really blessed by it, you just provided answer to a question that have been on my mind. Also,what do i do in a situation whereby those i am trying to show love are rebelling against it or does not value it?
Hi Peace, I’m so glad this post has encouraged you. It is hard when you show love and it is rejected or devalued. There are not easy answers for that other than to rely on Christ to love them through you and to walk in forgiveness, grounding your identity and value in Christ. Prayer is the pathway for God to move. We don’t always recognize his work in others, be we can trust he is working in their lives when we ask him to do so.
Thank you so much, will work on that. Please,is there any avenue for me to have direct contact to you for mentoring and all?