40 Short Bible Verses About Family Love and Unity
You come into this world with family. They are arguably the most important thing to an individual besides faith. Your family, whether chosen or blood, teaches you the foundations of life. They teach you what love, care, selflessness, faith, empathy, and wisdom are and how to show that in your own life. They build you up, so you can flourish and form a family of your own.
These qualities, among many others, are why family is so important. But there is always more to learn. That’s where the Bible comes in. The Great Text acts as a resource for building and sustaining household relationships. Within it are Bible verses about family that are helpful for every stage of life: childhood, adolescence, adulthood, middle age, and old age. Every family member can find some nugget of wisdom to take from the Bible about ancestry. To make the hunt for these wise texts easier, we compiled a list of prominent Bible verses about family to sift through at your leisure.
Top Bible Verses About Family:
“Honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.” — Matthew 19:19
“Train children in the way they should go; when they grow old, they won’t depart from it.” — Proverbs 22:6
“Now faith, hope, and love remain — these three things — and the greatest of these is love.” — 1 Corinthians 13:13
“We love because God first loved us." — 1 John 4:19
“She gets up while it is still night, providing food for her household, even some for her female servants. She surveys a field and acquires it; from her own resources, she plants a vineyard. She works energetically; her arms are powerful.”— Proverbs 31:15-17
Matthew 19:19
“Honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
The Good News: Some families are given by birth, others are created through connection. You can expand your family by treating others with the same love and care as you do relatives.
Mark 3:25
“And a house torn apart by divisions will collapse.”
The Good News: Like a home, a divided family, one torn by mistrust, anger, and spite, will crumble. A strong family must work together to patch those holes.
John 13:35
“This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples when you love each other.”
The Good News: Love is a connector as powerful as family. When you love a friend, God, or a co-worker, they become your chosen family.
1 Peter 4:8-9
“Above all, show sincere love to each other, because love brings about the forgiveness of many sins. Open your homes to each other without complaining.”
The Good News: Where there is love, love will always rise above. No matter how angry, frustrated, or sad you may feel toward a family member, your foundation of love will always prevail.
Luke 18:16
“Then Jesus called them to him and said, ‘Allow the children to come to me. Don’t forbid them, because God’s kingdom belongs to people like these children.’”
The Good News: Do not discount the thoughts and feelings of young family members. They are the future; the legacy of the family line.
Proverbs 17:6
“Grandchildren are the crown of the elderly, and the glory of children is their parents.”
The Good News: Every generation of family shines in their own way: grandparents, parents, children. They are all important and necessary for the growth of the ancestral line.
Ephesians 5:25
“As for husbands, love your wives just like Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.”
The Good News: Jesus loved us and His faith so much that He sacrificed Himself so that we could have eternal life with Him. Husbands and wives should love each other and commit themselves to each other just the same.
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Exodus 20:12
“Honor your father and your mother so that your life will be long on the fertile land that the Lord your God is giving you.”
The Good News: Appreciate the days that God has given you, and show Him your devotion by honoring the gift that He gave you: your mother and father.
Isaiah 66:13
“As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; in Jerusalem you will be comforted.”
The Good News: Comfort and care for your elders. In return, the Lord will comfort you in heaven.
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Colossians 3:21
“Parents, don’t provoke your children in a way that ends up discouraging them.”
The Good News: Parents, do not discourage or punish your children, particularly in their faith. This will cause them to feel discouraged and averse.
Proverbs 6:20
“My son, keep your father’s command; don’t abandon your mother’s instruction.”
The Good News: Obey your father and mother, for they will lead you on a path of goodness and graciousness.
1 John 4:20
“Those who say, ‘I love God’ and hate their brothers or sisters are liars. After all, those who don’t love their brothers or sisters, whom they have seen, can hardly love God, whom they have not seen!”
The Good News: You cannot say you truly love the Lord unless you show it in your actions, which includes loving the people who know best how to push your buttons.
Proverbs 11:29
“Those who trouble their family will inherit the wind. The fool will be servant to the wise.”
The Good News: If you bring trouble and harm to your family, you will gain absolutely nothing. But if you care, and bring love to your home, you will only gain the same in return.
Proverbs 22:6
“Train children in the way they should go; when they grow old, they won’t depart from it.”
The Good News: Raise your children how you would want to be raised. They will learn from you, and when they grow older, they will teach their children the same way.
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Colossians 3:13
“Be tolerant with each other and, if someone has a complaint against anyone, forgive each other. As the Lord forgave you so also forgive each other.”
The Good News: The Lord has and will again forgive us for all of our sins. This is no easy task, and therefore, we must take from His example and forgive others when they sin against us.
Ephesians 6:4
“As for parents, don’t provoke your children to anger, but raise them with discipline and instruction about the Lord.”
The Good News: Parents, do not harm or distress your children. Discipline them when necessary, and think of what Jesus would do. Give them grace and compassion.
1 Corinthians 13:13
“Now faith, hope, and love remain — these three things — and the greatest of these is love.”
The Good News: We all must have faith, hope, and love, but love is the greatest gift of all. Where there is love, there is also faith and hope.
1 Timothy 5:8
“But if someone doesn’t provide for their own family, and especially for a member of their household, they have denied the faith. They are worse than those who have no faith.”
The Good News: If you do not love and care for your family, especially your immediate family, then you are denying your faith in God. In scripture, this is worse than not believing in God at all.
1 John 4:19
“We love because God first loved us."
The Good News: We only have love for others because God loved us first. We must never forget this.
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Psalm 133:1
“Look at how good and pleasing it is when families live together as one. ”
The Good News: Don't take the phrase "living together" literally. Parents who live separately but still raise children together still adhere to this scripture by communicating and working together to raise children with love.
Romans 12:5
“In the same way, though there are many of us, we are one body in Christ, and individually we belong to each other.”
The Good News: Though made up of individuals, a family is one unit.
Proverbs 23:15
“My child, if your heart is wise, then my heart too will be happy.”
The Good News: If your child is happy, you will be happy. If your child is successful, you will be successful.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
The Good News: Ultimately, a family is all about love, and this famous set of verses from 1 Corinthians outlines what that love should look like.
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1 Timothy 3:4-5
"He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?"
The Good News: Children should obey their parents, and parents should treat their children as God treats His children.
Ephesians 6:1-2
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment, with a promise."
The Good News: It is a commandment from God to honor your father and mother.
Genesis 1:28
"God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.'"
The Good News: God wants us to have children, and teach them His ways.
Colossians 3:20
“Children, obey your parents in everything because this pleases the Lord.”
The Good News: Always obey your parents, as this is what the Lord rewards.
Genesis 2:24
“That is the reason that a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife, and they become one flesh.”
The Good News: When you join your partner in marriage, you become your own family, like that of your mother and father.
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Genesis 18:19
“I have formed a relationship with him so that he will instruct his children, and his household after him. And they will keep to the Lord’s path, being mortal, and just so that the Lord can do for Abraham everything he said he would.”
The Good News: As a guardian figure in your children’s lives, it’s important to uphold the Lord’s values in the household.
Ephesians 5:33
“In any case, as for you individually, each one of you should love his wife as himself, and wives should respect their husbands.”
The Good News: You cannot love your wife the way she deserves without loving yourself — and when you do, she will respect you.
Proverbs 12:4
“A strong woman is a crown to her husband, but a disgraceful woman is like rot in his bones.”
The Good News: To be a good wife, you need to be strong and independent before you can give your love and strength to the one you love most.
Joshua 24:15
“But if it seems wrong in your opinion to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Choose the gods whom your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But my family and I will serve the Lord.”
The Good News: Each religious or spiritual family chooses their own God to worship and love.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7
“These words that I am commanding you today must always be on your minds. Recite them to your children. Talk about them when you are sitting around your house and when you are out and about, when you are lying down, and when you are getting up.”
The Good News: You can recite wisdom from the Lord to your children on a daily basis so they may begin to reflect and develop their own personal relationship with God.
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Ephesians 3:14-15
“This is why I kneel before the Father. Every ethnic group in heaven or on earth is recognized by him.”
The Good News: The Lord is every family’s Father.
Proverbs 15:20
“A wise child brings joy to a father, but fools despise their mothers.”
The Good News: If you love and respect your parents, you will bring them joy.
Proverbs 1:8
“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction; don’t neglect your mother’s teaching.”
The Good News: Not only do you draw wisdom from the Lord, but you also draw wisdom from your mother.
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Psalm 103:17
“But the Lord’s faithful love is from forever ago to forever from now for those who honor him. And God’s righteousness reaches to the grandchildren.”
The Good News: God’s eternal love touches every generation.
Deuteronomy 5:16
“Honor your father and your mother, exactly as the Lord your God requires, so that your life will be long and so that things will go well for you on the fertile land that the Lord your God is giving you.”
The Good News: To reap the gifts that the Lord has given you, you must show respect towards your parents and honor them always.
Proverbs 31:15-17
“She gets up while it is still night, providing food for her household, even some for her female servants. She surveys a field and acquires it; from her own resources, she plants a vineyard. She works energetically; her arms are powerful.”
The Good News: A mother is a leader of the house, always working to provide food for her family.
Colossians 3:19
"Husbands, love your wives and don’t be harsh with them."
The Good News: Do not treat your partner poorly, as that is not what the Lord wants of you or your relationship.
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