a misquoted verse

Often recited at weddings:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 1 Corinthians 13:5

That doesn't mean ooey-gooey romantic love. These verses get right to the point:

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Romans 12:10

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in him. 1 John 4:9

Following Christ can't get any clearer than this. It's his command, not an option or our choice:

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34-35

Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

The Son of God called you and me his friends:

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:15

The greatest and perfect love:

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13