When asked about the greatest commandment, Jesus answers with a sentence from the Old Testament: love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Here you will find 20 Bible verses about loving God – about the greatest commandment, about longing, and about love that responds.
The greatest commandment
The commandment that Jesus places above all others.
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And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:5
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But Jesus said to him, “You shall love God, the LORD your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the most important and greatest commandment.
Matthew 22:37-38
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And you shall love God, the LORD your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the most important commandment.
Mark 12:30
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Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? That you fear the LORD your God, that you walk in all his ways, and that you love and serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deuteronomy 10:12
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That you love the LORD your God, that you obey his voice, and that you hold fast to him.
Deuteronomy 30:20a
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But hold fast diligently to do the commandment and the law that Moses, the servant of the LORD, commanded you: that you love the LORD your God, that you walk in all his ways, that you keep his commandments, and that you hold fast to him, and serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Joshua 22:5
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If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
John 14:15Obedience
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Whoever has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me. But whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.
John 14:21
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For this is love for God: that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not difficult.
Longing for God
Love for God is above all longing in the Psalms.
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And he said: With all my heart I love you, LORD, my strength!
Psalm 18:2
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As the deer pants for fresh water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When will I come to see the face of God?
Psalm 42:2-3Thirst
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God, you are my God; early in the morning I will wake to you. My soul thirsts for you; my flesh longs for you in a dry and parched land where there is no water.
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If I have only you, I ask for nothing from heaven or earth.
Psalm 73:25Desire
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My soul longs and yearns for the courts of the LORD; my body and soul rejoice in the living God.
Psalm 84:3
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One thing I ask of the LORD, that is what I desire: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beautiful assemblies of the LORD and to behold his temple.
Psalm 27:4Beauty
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It is my delight that the LORD hears my voice and my prayer.
Psalm 116:1
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And he said to him for the third time: Simon son of Jonah, do you love me? Peter became sad because he said to him for the third time, “Do you love me?” and said to him, “LORD, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep!”
John 21:17
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Let us love him, for he first loved us.
1 John 4:19God's loveFirst Communion
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But we know that those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
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But as it is written: “What no eye has seen and no ear has heard and has not entered the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him.”
Bible texts: Luther Bible 1912 (public domain), carefully adapted to modern spelling.
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What does it mean to love God?
The greatest commandment comes from the “Shema Israel,” the confession of faith of Israel: “Hear, Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). Loving God does not mean a feeling first, but an orientation of the whole life: thinking, feeling, and acting. Jesus inextricably links it with the second commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39); verses on this can be found at Bible verses about love for neighbors.
Love that responds
John makes clear that love for God is a response: “Let us love him, for he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Whoever experiences God's love wants to be in his presence – the Psalms express this with images of thirst and longing (Psalm 42; 63). Jesus asks Peter three times after his denial: “Do you love me?” (John 21:15-17). The question is not an interrogation, but an invitation to a new beginning. You can find more about God's love for us at Bible verses about God's love, and about worship at Bible verses about worship.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the greatest commandment?
In Matthew 22:37-39, Jesus names two commandments: to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself.
How do you show love for God?
Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Love for God is shown in trust, prayer, obedience, and in love for other people (1 John 4:20-21).
