In Mark 12:28 a scribe asked Jesus which of all the commandments was the most important to follow. Jesus mentioned two commandments, one from Deuteronomy 6:5, the other from Leviticus 19:18. Both had to do with love. Why is love so important? Jesus said that all of the commandments were given for two simple reasons: to help us love God and love others as we should.
| What else did Jesus say about love? | Reference |
| God loves us | John 3:16 |
| We are to love God | Matthew 22:37 |
| Because God loves us, he cares for us | Matthew 6:25-34 |
| God wants everyone to know how much he loves them | John 17:23 |
| God loves even those who hate him; we are to do the same | Matthew 5:43-47; Luke 6:35 |
| God seeks out even those most alienated from him | Luke 15 |
| God must be our first love | Matthew 6:24; 10:37 |
| We love God when we obey him | John 14:21; 15:10 |
| God loves Jesus, his Son | John 5:20; 10:17 |
| Jesus loves God | John 14:31 |
| Those who refuse Jesus don’t have God’s love | John 5:41-44 |
| Jesus loves us just as God loves Jesus | John 15:9 |
| Jesus proved his love for us by dying on the cross so that we could live eternally with him | John 3:14, 15; 15:13, 14 |
| The love between God and Jesus is the perfect example of how we are to love others | John 17:21-26 |
| We are to love one another (John 13:34, 35) and demonstrate that love | Matthew 5:40-42; 10:42 |
| We are not to love the praise of people (John 12:43), selfish recognition (Matthew 23:6), earthly belongings (Luke 6:19-31), or anything more than God | Luke 16:13 |
| Jesus’ love extends to each individual | Mark 10:21; John 10:11-15 |
| Jesus wants us to love him through the good and through the difficult times | Matthew 26:31-35 |