The union of two people is perhaps one of the most moving ceremonies we have in the world. To vow to love one another for the rest of their lives is as magical as the movies.
However, we must not forget that God is at the center of it all. We make a promise to the Lord to take care of one another, in sickness and in health. That’s the Christian way of marriages, and that’s what we hear in a lot of Christian love songs.
So, if you’re trying to come up with a playlist for your wedding, or you just want to listen to the best Christian love songs in the music industry, we’ve prepared this quick list for you.
Best Christian Love Songs
1. “I Will Be Here” by Steven Curtis Chapman
This song was written by Steven Curtis Chapman a little after getting married to his wife. While the lyrics may seem like it’s all about professing love to your partner, it actually has a much more unfortunate backstory.
After their wedding, Chapman’s parents got divorced. Chapman then wanted to reassure his wife that it will never happen to their relationship because he’d always be there for her. He said that he wanted to tell his wife that no matter what tomorrow brings, no matter how divergent their paths become, he will stay true to his commitment to love her forever.
That’s why in the last parts of the song, we see the lines,
“I will be true to the promise I have made
To you and to the One who gave you to me
I will be here”
2. “Bless the Broken Road” by Rascal Flatts
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was originally the one who wrote and recorded this song for one of their albums. It was then released as a single by a musician named Melodie Crittenden with the title “Broken Road.” However, perhaps the most popular rendition of the song came from the Rascal Flatts.
It can be a song about finding God, but it’s also about how the ups and downs of life are simply God’s way of leading you to the right person. It’s about how life seems to have thousands of circuits and we sometimes assume that things are horrible, but in the end, all of these challenges that you overcome actually led you to a much better place.
3. “Love Never Fails” by Brandon Heath
This song came from the popular selection in the New Testament which is 1 Corinthians 13. If you’re unfamiliar with it, the words go,
“Love is not proud
Love does not boast
Love after all
Matters the most”
Heath and his friend Chad Cates were in a Bible study when they came across this chapter. Their focus group then had to dissect the entire selection from the Bible for more than three months. It affected Heath so much that he wanted to record it in a song.
A huge part of this song’s lyrics came from this chapter. It talks about how love comes in different forms, and sometimes, it’s not always about grandiose things but rather choosing to love the person you’re with every day, which is what marriage really is about.
4. “You Love Me Anyway” by Sidewalk Prophets
This song was written by the lead vocalist of the band, David Frey, after one incident when he was still a kid. His parents left town and a babysitter had to take care of him and his friend.
He started playing with his goldfish but he accidentally killed it. When the babysitter asked who did it, Frey placed the blame on his friend, and his friend took it. The following day, he got so guilty that he confessed in church and apologized to his friend and his mom to which his mom replied, “It’s okay. Jesus loves you anyway.”
It’s a great song about love and marriages because once we fully commit to one person and make a promise to God, we are choosing to love that person, no matter what his/her flaws are and what they might have done. Take a look at songs about unity next.
5. “Write Your Story” by Francesca Battistelli
This song was written by Francesca Battistelli with David Garcia and Ben Glover. It’s about using your talents, personality, and energy as a vessel for God’s message. It’s the commitment to be available, no matter what the situation is, for God and for whatever His plan or story is.
Applied in marriages, “Write Your Story” speaks about how letting God write the story that eventually leads you to the path of becoming a life partner for the one you love. It’s about how letting God be the center of your commitment to one another.
6. “Angel” by Casting Crowns
Mark Hall, the frontman of Casting Crowns, wrote this song for his wife, Melanie. They met when they were still young, and the first parts of the song refer to the first time he saw her.
After more than a decade since knowing her, they got married, and the wedding is what he’s talking about in the latter parts of the song. He also talked about how God answered his prayers by bringing Melanie into his life, which we see in the lyrics,
“You’re the proof that the Father answers prayers
‘Cause somehow someway
You and I are standing here
With the sacred promise
And a ring that says it all
I’ve just begun to fall
From the deepest part of me, I say I do”
7. “Reckless Love” by Cory Asbury
The singer-songwriter Cory Asbury wrote this song to praise God for His “Reckless Love.” Don’t get Asbury wrong. He’s not saying that God is reckless, but the way He loves us is somehow throwing caution to the wind.
He explains that even though God had to sacrifice His Son, or God doesn’t know what He’ll gain and lose from you, He still loves you no matter what, and the best thing we can do is to offer ourselves back to Him.
It’s a wonderful song about love and marriage because, despite the possibility that we may not achieve it, we should still try to love our partners the way God loves us.
8. “Made to Love” by TobyMac
This song is about being caught up in the daily tribulations of life. We stress, get lonely, fight, become less mindful, argue, get anxious, and lose the compassion in our hearts. However, we must always remember that we are creatures of God and we are “Made to Love” and be loved.
It’s a great reminder for married people because we will most likely face the most difficult challenges in this level of relationship, but at the core of it all, we shouldn’t forget that God planned us to be with the person we’re married to.
9. “The Prayer” by Andrea Bocelli & Celine Dion
This song was originally written by David Foster with Carole Bayer Sager. Its lyrics are divided into English and Italian languages and was first recorded by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli.
As the title suggests, this song sounds like a prayer to God. In one way, you can see it as if humanity is praying that God remains its guiding light towards the light. On the other hand, it can also be a couple’s prayer to God that He becomes the pillar that keeps the relationship strong.
10. “When God Made You” by NewSong
This song was specifically written for a wedding. Eddie Carswell’s daughter, Jennifer, was about to get married, and she asked her dad to write a song based on the letters she and her fiance had written each other over the years.
Carswell is one of the founding members of NewSong, a contemporary Christian music group. That’s why the song talks about two people finding love with God in the center of it all.
“Oh, I wonder what God was thinking when He created you
I wonder if He knew everything I would need
Because He made all my dreams come true
When God made you, He must have been thinking about me”
11. “Wedding Song (There Is Love)” by Noel Paul Stookey
Noel Paul Stookey was one of the members of the group Peter Paul & Mary. He wrote “Wedding Song (There Is Love)” for Peter Yarrow’s and Marybeth McCarthy’s marriage, both of whom were ex-members of the band.
Interestingly, Paul’s not is not always credited on the sheet music of this song, and he does not receive royalties from it. That’s because he believes the words didn’t come from him. Rather, it was God who gave him the song and he just merely used the pencil to write what God was giving him at the moment.
Obviously, it is a wedding song, and it’s a celebration of Peter and Marybeth’s union as a newlywed couple in front of God. The song says that when two people are married with God as their witness, love is absolutely present.
“The union of your spirits here has caused Him to remain
For whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name
There is love. There is love.”
12. “When I Say I Do” by Matthew West
Matthew West is a devout Christian who dedicated most of his life to composing and singing songs for God. One evidence of this is his song “When I Say I Do,” which is also about the celebration of love between two people that God has planned.
The beginning of the song, along with its title, already tells us that this is a Christian song about love and marriage. The first lines go,
“There must be a God, I believe it’s true
Cause I can see His love, when I look at you
And he must have a plan for this crazy life
Because He brought you here and placed you by my side.”
The chorus of the song then goes on to paint a picture of a wedding but suggests that actions are more meaningful than the words couples say to each other during a the ceremony.
“For better or for worse are so much more than only words
And I pray every day will be the proof
That I mean what I say when I say ‘I do.'”
13. “God Gave Me You” by Blake Shelton
Dave Barnes, a Christian musician, was the one who originally penned this song. Coincidentally, Blake Shelton’s relationship with Miranda Lambert was on the rocks, and it was right around the time that they were getting married.
He then heard Barnes’s song on the radio which made him pull over to the side of the road. Shelton knew that God was letting him hear that song on the radio for a reason. He listened to it 20 more times before calling his producer and telling him that he wants to make a cover of it.
Barnes wrote “God Gave Me You” to thank his wife for staying with him through the highs and lows of his life. It was also to thank God for letting them be together and strengthening their relationship.
14. “The Heart” by Needtobreathe
Life can sometimes be rather sneaky. One day, you’d realize that you’re so focused on the outcome or on doing things right that you forget about putting your heart into it or enjoying it. That feeling is what this song was based on.
It’s about trying to appreciate the little things again, going back to the roots, and reminding yourself again why you’re here in the first place. While it was written by the Christian band Needtobreathe to talk about their journey as a band, it can also be applied in marriages.
Sometimes, we get too caught up in petty things that don’t matter that we forget the present moment with our loved ones. It encourages us to revisit what our hearts really wanted back then.
15. “Hundred More Years” by Francesca Battistelli
Francesca Battistelli married Matthew Goodwin, the percussionist of another Christian band. They eventually got married, and Battistelli was pregnant by the time she wrote this song.
It’s about this part of Battistelli’s life. Initially, it should just be about her and her husband getting married. However, she said that by the second verse of the song, it naturally came out of her to talk about having a child even though her co-writer didn’t even know it. That’s why we can hear her sing,
“She’s got blue eyes just like her mother
Three years old, he’s crazy for her
He wants to freeze this day before it disappears
She’s spinning like a little princess
Making sure he’s gonna notice
He could watch her twirl for a hundred years”
The chorus also talks about the joys of a family built on faith and God. It’s about cherishing the moments of our lives before we realize they were actually the best memories we could have in this lifetime.
“They can dance under the moonlight
‘Cause God is smiling down on them tonight
And she wants to stay right here
They can last for a hundred more years”
16. “Two Becoming One” by Jonathan & Emily Martin
This song is the epitome of this entire article. It’s a song written by Jonathan & Emily Martin, and it’s about marriage and how it should be grounded on Christ and faith. Jonathan and Emily met in Nashville when they were still studying at Belmont College, and this song is heavily influenced by their marriage.
The first part of the song is about offering yourself to the person you’re marrying and it goes,
“Here’s my hand, it’s yours to hold
I give myself to you
Here’s my heart, please make it yours
I give my love to you”
The chorus is where we see Christ’s role in the relationship. As we all know, Christ is synonymous with unconditional love. When two people get married, they should also strive to provide each other with the unconditional love that Christ has given us, which is why we see the lyrics,
“We are two becoming one
May what He’s joined be not undone
May our love put Christ on display.”
17. “Refuge” by Skillet
This song is inspired by a passage from the Bible that John Cooper, Skillet’s frontman, has memorized when he was still a kid. It comes from Psalm 46:1 which goes, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
Cooper loved this passage because it’s so simple yet so profound. He says that one does not have to study theology or philosophy, or does not even have to be an avid reader of the Bible, to understand this message; whatever situation you are in, God will be your refuge and keep you safe.
It’s a beautiful passage, and his song “Refuge” could also be a great way to look at marriages.
“I can face my darkest night
Cause I trust You with my life
I’m not afraid, for You are my refuge”
While it can be the couple speaking to God, it can also be about how we become vulnerable and completely offer ourselves to another person we wish to spend the rest of our lives with.
Conclusion
Love, marriage, and God are three things that go hand-in-hand. When we love someone, we are looking to marry him/her, and even though challenges may come, as long as God is in the center of the relationship, love will prevail.
That’s basically the message of all the songs we’ve mentioned here. So, the next time you want to listen to Christian songs about love, be sure to check out our list!