| Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. | Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. |
| See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. | See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. |
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| May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. | And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. |
| Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. | But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. |
| Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor. | Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love will find life, righteousness, and honor. |
| Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs. | Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love makes up for all offenses. |
| For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. | And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. |
| Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. | The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. |
| Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. | And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. |
| The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these. | The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these. |
| Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. | May God give you more and more mercy, peace, and love. |
| No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. | Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others. |
| Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. | It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. |
| I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. | I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath! |
| Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. | Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. |
| If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. | If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. |
| But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. | But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! |
| For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it.” | For the Scriptures say, “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.” |
| For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. | For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. |
| Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. | Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. |
| Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. | Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law. |
| But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. | But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! |
| For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. | For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. |
| Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? | Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? |
| This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. | This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. |
