10 Valentine's Day Quotes to Point You to God's Definition of Love

Whether you’re single, dating, engaged, or have been married for years, it is refreshing to consider love through a biblical lens. Our culture has put out a fierce public relations campaign that says love is a feeling and we should follow our hearts. The pursuit of romantic love is everywhere, from advertisements to TV shows to social media.

That is only a small piece of the type of love shown to us in the Holy Scriptures, however.

The one who is love created humans to be loved, knowing they would reject him. Then still loving us all, he made a way for us to be rescued back into his loving arms.

That’s exactly what Jesus did. He put aside his comfort. He put aside his power as the son of God and sacrificed his body so “no one would perish but have everlasting life" (Romans 5:8).

This type of love is hard to understand and even harder to portray perfectly in books and movies. But why? Romans 3:23 answers this: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Our sin and selfishness distort the idea of love, true love, or true biblical love.

Love in its best form puts the needs of others first. An unconditional, sacrificial love is the kind of love that will choose the best for others. When we have a biblical love for our spouse, fiancé, and family, it represents the type of love God has for us. Sometimes this kind of love may inconvenience us, but it is beautiful and it is something others often take notice of and desire because it is a picture of the good news of Jesus Christ.

Disclaimer: You should not sacrifice your safety or physical and emotional health in loving someone. If your safety or health is in danger do seek help and biblical counsel. There are people available who can and want to help you.

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I might have just swooned a little when I read this quote.

Isn’t the idea of love at first sight that we see in so many movies and books based on this type of all-encompassing love? Truthfully, I had not thought of God looking at me in such a way. But this quote from Greg Laurie is a heart-penetrating picture of God’s love for us.

How God can love us so completely and individually is something we may never understand, but it is neat to see God attempt to explain this type of love to us. He tried to do so with Moses in Exodus 34: 6-7a, “… The Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands…”

But how would Valentine’s Day or our culture’s view of love be different if we looked to God as the perfect example of love? I have often looked to other people to be the ones to define my value and worth, and I think our human nature often looks for value in this way.

A biblical view of God’s love and devotion to us individually changes a lot of things. It changes my thoughts toward myself and others. It would change what I say to myself in the mirror or to the person causing traffic or trouble at work. Because they are loved by God in the same way I am loved, fully and perfectly by God alone.

I think we all can use a reminder of how much we are loved this Valentine’s Day.

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I’ve always struggled with that line from Jerry McGuire where he says, “You complete me.” Many people love this line and tear up at this scene in the movie. Even as a hopeless romantic, this line never resonated with me. Maybe it’s because I came to a saving faith at a young age, but without Jesus, no person would fill the God-shaped hole in my heart. Because, at our very core, we were made to have a relationship with God. Many Valentine’s quotes, romantic movies, etc. talk about soul mates and finding your other half. But this quote by JD Greear is what our hearts and souls desire: Jesus.

Love and marriage were originally meant to be mutual relationships of encouragement and companionship. God saw Adam needed a ‘help mate," someone like him to relate to. Just as God lives in a relationship with the other parts of the Trinity, so too would God’s creation, Adam, need a unifying, equal, but distinct relationship.

God knew what would come in Genesis Chapter 3, and still, the most loving thing for Adam was the gift of Eve. But Eve wasn’t to replace or negate humankind’s need for God.

Even if we find the "perfect" significant other, they are still human. They still have flaws, hurts, and hang-ups. There will be times when they let you down and times you miss the mark. Love and relationships on this side of heaven won’t be perfect. The only perfect person is Jesus. He is the one who modeled the love we desire and need.

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Jesus said just as much in the Gospel of John, “By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have a love for one another” (John 13:35). As Christ's followers, we should be known for the love that we give. Love and compassion were the mark of Jesus’ ministry and should be evident in our actions and words. These elements of Christianity caused the Jesus movement to spread throughout the world and across the socioeconomic boundaries of the day.

Dr. Thomas Constable’s Soniclight notes say this about John 13:35: “But God's supernatural love is what bears witness to a disciple's connection with Jesus and thereby honors Him.” “We love him because he first loves us” (1 John 4:19). We know grace, peace, and salvation have been given to us not by anything within us but by the love of God alone.

In a society in which we feel it is our right to "be heard" or go to bat for Jesus when we see something we don’t like on social media, love as a first response is not always easy. There is a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that hit home for me as I look at the world around us. It says, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."

Love changes people because honest love speaks to the needs of our souls. Responding in love with our words and actions can seem foreign and awkward, but those things mark who we are, and as Thabiti Anyabwile said above, it is ‘the mark of Christian discipleship is love."

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I love this quote. It sums up the mystery and confusion that is the word love. Love, in its purest form, doesn’t make logical sense. It goes where no one will go. It does the things that no one will do. Love and compassion were the tipping points for all of Jesus’ ministry.

It was Jesus’ love that made his ministry so different from that of other rabbis of the day. His actions were strange, unpredictable, and unprecedented. They were not based strictly on knowledge and information. Who would risk getting leprosy if not for love for the leper? 

For that matter, who would leave paradise, put on flesh, and choose hunger, pain, and rejection to draw us into a relationship with him? God's love for us in Jesus does not make complete, logical sense. But where knowledge ends is where love begins to show itself in its purest form.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud…” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). Love does not come naturally to our human nature because of sin. But we are given opportunities to love those that are easy to love and those that are not, in order to remind us that love comes from God. It is a gift, a responsibility, and it is a picture of who God is and what he wants for us.

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There is nothing we enjoy more than a good love story. If you look at the top twenty most popular books ‘of all time’, you’ll see that the majority of these books have a strong love element to them. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone shows the power of a mother’s love. Hunger Games shows us that love is a powerful survival skill. The Great Gatsby and Pride and Prejudice show us the power and danger of love. But only a couple of these books are in the "Romance" genre.

I believe this quote by Saint Augustine reveals why we gravitate to stories with strong love themes. There is something beautiful and even sacred about love because it is the deepest call of our souls.

“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” (1 John 4:12)

Because of love, we were made, and because of love, we were saved through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus even communicated to the disciples that “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). In her article "What Is This 'Greater Love' That Jesus Talks about in John 15?" Meg Bucher states, “Contrary to the way the world loves selfishly, Jesus loved selflessly and taught His followers to aim for the same. This type of love is almost indescribable, a product of the very character of God, who is perfect love.”

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This is such a sweet quote for Valentine’s Day and a beautiful reminder that the gifts and actions this Valentine’s Day don’t need to be big and elaborate. Our culture will push all the jewelry and flowers. The movies will depict grand gestures. But extraordinary love is the love that is consistent and present. Saint Teresa of Calcutta, or Mother Teresa, didn’t tell the people of Calcutta that God loved them through flowers and giant teddy bears. She proved her genuine love for the people of Calcutta by consistently serving both God and the poor. Looking back over Mother Teresa’s life, we often see the extraordinary love and actions of this woman. I can only imagine that Mother Teresa didn’t view herself as extraordinary but as a servant of love to a people group that God loved.

Gary Chapman opened our eyes to the Five Love Languages and how each person gives and receives love differently. Extraordinary love is a love that steps outside of us to meet the other in their needs and how they can receive love. Sometimes that is a listening ear, a gift that shows the other person that you see them, or many other small acts of genuine love.

Let this truth take the pressure off if your budget is tight or if Valentine’s Day will look different than in years past. No matter what all the commercials say this Valentine’s season, no amount of stuff can compare to loving someone well.

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I am sensing a theme in these quotes focused on biblical love. Selflessness, compassion, and sacrifice are all summed up in this Saint Bernard quote. These ideas are the things that make love so complicated as well as so beautiful.

Scripture states that, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)

Soniclight notes put it this way, “In our day we often hear advice to 'Follow your heart. It will never lead you astray.' This counsel reflects the self-sufficient attitude of the world. If we just follow our hearts—what feels right—we will often make mistakes and get into trouble. Rather than following our hearts, we need to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit as He guides us with the Word of God.”

The Holy Spirit is the catalyst for loving others selflessly. A calling, a conviction, or a bit of prompting from the Holy Spirit moves us to seek the good of another over the inclination of our sinful natures.

Paul put it this way in Romans 7:18: “For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.”

But “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” (Colossians 1:27) is the crux that changes everything. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Because God shows us what love looks like we have the ability and conviction to love bigger, wider, and different than the world we live in.

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This is something I say to my children often. Love is a choice and an action. Love is not only a feeling because feelings are fickle and at times not based on truth. It is a burden of compassion and love that moves us from talking about doing something to taking action.

True, hearing the words, "I love you" is powerful and sweet, but love without action can often lead to doubt and insecurity.

To say God is love without the proof of his love in action throughout scripture would land us closer to the agnostic camp, where there is a source of great power, but we humans are on our own.

What separates Christianity from other religions is love. God’s intimate love for his creation. His love for humankind. His sacrificial love makes a way for us to be in a relationship with us through Jesus. Love for the poor. Love for the outcast. Love for our enemies (Matthew 5:44) is the compassion and heart that draws people to ask why we love so differently.

During the Black Plague, Christianity flourished. Not because Christians were unaffected by the plague, but because they stayed and cared for those sick and abandoned. Simple acts of care and compassion brought much of Europe to leave their pagan traditions and accept the love of Christ—all because of love in action.

Love that didn’t value their comfort or feelings but saw the needs of the many and stepped into the chaos at the risk of their comforts. This is the love we are called to give to those around us this Valentine’s season.

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Yes, I know Easter is not the holiday we are focusing on in this article, but let Louie Giglio’s words sit with you for a moment this Valentine’s season. No matter what your Valentine’s will look like or who you will spend that day with, know that you are loved. Not just loved with a worldly love but by an eternal love that wants to spend eternity with you, not just on Valentine’s Day.

I’ve heard this Louie Giglio quote many times, but I first came across this idea in a children’s devotional by Sally Lloyd-Jones. It hit me hard the first time I read it, and it continues to amaze me because the type of love that would choose crucifixion so that you and I can have an intimate and eternal life with him is hard to imagine.

You were loved enough for Jesus to step away from paradise. For him to hunger, to weep, mourn, and “be tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Without hesitation he endured all those things with full knowledge that the cross was the answer the problem of sin in the world that he loved.

You were on his mind when he was on the cross. Just hours earlier, angels had attended his needs in the Garden of Gethsemane. He could have called angels to scoop him up to heaven. He could have stepped off the cross with just a word.

But you are worth it all.

You are desired and wanted.

God so loves you and your salvation was worth the nails to accomplish an eternal Valentine’s party with him one day.

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