9 Verses about Love and Marriage
Marriage: It’s one of those seasons of life when you start out saying, “I got this.” And somehow, you end up signaling SOS.
Because love is hard, rather than naturally emanating from us, it requires we reach toward each other—and often in the times when we’re the least inclined.
It makes sense that we’d reach for an ancient text that (literally) wrote the book on love. Looking for verses about love and marriage? Start here.
Verses about Love and Marriage
1. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
“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.”
From the Top 40 to the Oscars, culture loves to peer at what love looks like. 1 John 3:16 articulates God’s picture of love, displayed in technicolor in the life and death of Jesus: “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us.”
Rather than remaining fueled by emotion, in these verses about love (and marriage), God flips our narrative of love on its head. Love becomes a relentless way of life amid moments that are mundane and demanding. True love requires virtuous tenacity, whether in conversation or conflict, washing towels or wiping tears, romance, or renewing the car insurance.
2. Song of Solomon 1:1-4; 3:4
“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine; your anointing oils are fragrant; your name is oil poured out; therefore virgins love you. Draw me after you; let us run. The king has brought me into his chambers …. … I found him whom my soul loves.”
The freshly-minted wife of the ancient King Solomon gushes poetically about her desire to connect with him through physical touch and sex. This entire passionate, biblical book trumpets God’s exquisite creation and hearty applause of sex within marriage. King Solomon and his ardent young wife enthusiastically and romantically exclaim over each other’s character and bodies.
In fact, through an anonymous “chorus” in the book, we gather that God Himself cheers on this couple’s whole-person intimacy, built on holistically loving as He loves.
3. Song of Solomon 8:6-7, ESV
“Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised.”
Perhaps like we’d use a signature in modern times, someone’s seal in ancient times marked a finality of approval and ownership. In these classic verses about love and marriage, the young wife of this ancient king begs to permanently, fiercely possess his heart.
4. Romans 15:7, NIV
“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”
The power in this comparison—“just as Christ accepted you”—relies on our understanding of Jesus’ welcome of His people. Earlier in this book, we learn that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). When our rebellion marked us as arrogant enemies, God offered His most lavish demonstration of His affection and care by laying down His own life to close the gap between Himself and humanity.
He welcomed us as we are, and established a defining precedent for loving relationships. We love people within their mess, “Bear[ing] one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).
5. Philippians 2:1-8, ESV
“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant …. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death.”
Catch these distinctions of people (and marriages) who follow after Jesus: His love and Holy Spirit—coupled with affection and empathy—result in a passion for unity. It’s not an obliteration of personality or differences, but instead, like our own physical bodies, operates in differences as a single whole (check out 1 Corinthians 12). A husband and wife, too, live together compassionately and work together toward God’s purposes (see Psalm 34:3).
In the same vein, in marriage and life, we set aside ambition and ego that don’t fully take others into account. Instead, others become more important than we are—like Jesus, who set aside what He deserved to the point of sacrificing His own life. For a marriage that honors God, consider it mission-critical to elevate your spouse’s needs and kill your own self‑importance.
6. 1 Peter 3:8-9, 4:8
“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing …. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”
In these verses about love and marriage and all who follow Him, God sets a high bar: unity of mind (cross “faking it” off your list). Loving like family. A soft heart. A mind assessing itself no greater and no less than God does.
But this brand of love also follows Jesus’ example of kindness in return for offense (see Matthew 5:44, Luke 23:34, 22:47-51)—no matter what is “deserved.” Learning to authentically love like this carries power to overcome most of marriage’s most harrowing obstacles.
7. Romans 13:8-10
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
If you keep in mind just one rule for your marriage, let it be this killer concept: Loving God first, and—since you’re both made in His image—loving each other as you love yourselves. Nail this, and you’re golden.
8. Ephesians 5:1-2, 25-30, 32
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God .… Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body …. This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”
The culture of a marriage following God remains fundamentally … different. Rather than personal happiness and fulfillment as the primary goal, or even romantic love, God sets the tone for self-sacrificing love that champions a breathtaking holiness (“splendor”) in each other. Ultimately, Paul lets us in on a key aspect of Christian marriage: It shows the world the nature of Jesus’ own relationship with His Bride, the Church.
9. Ephesians 4:1-3, 32
“I … urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace …. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
These verses about love and marriage can potentially establish the culture of a relationship, one that weatherproofs a relationship in its eagerness for peace and connection. Arrogance, impatience, and brash independence are squarely replaced by deep kindness, intentional unity, and complete forgiveness that mirror Jesus. It’s what God considers “worthy” of His own humility, gentleness, patience, and sacrifice for us.
And as a Holy Spirit-filled couple, unity—that one-fleshness—remains one of your highest priorities: “I [Jesus] in them and you [Father] in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (John 17:23).
What will you be willing to work through in your marriage for the sake of true oneness?
Copyright © 2026 by Janel Breitenstein. All rights reserved.
Janel Breitenstein is an author, freelance writer, speaker, and regular contributor for FamilyLife. Her work also appears with Focus on the Family and Christianity Today. After five years in East Africa, her family of six returned to Colorado, where they continue to work on behalf of the poor with Engineering Ministries International. She is the author of Permanent Markers: Spiritual Life Skills to Write on Your Kids’ Hearts; Deliver Us from Meltdowns: And Other Real‑Life Prayers for Parents, and the upcoming How to Stop Yelling Up the Stairs: Keeping Your Cool While Raising Your Kids. You can find her—“The Awkward Mom”—having uncomfortable, important conversations at JanelBreitenstein.com, and janelbreitenstein.substack.com.