Over the past eight years of writing behind the song devotionals on NewReleaseToday.com and interviewing artists about the writing stories and biblical inspiration behind their songs, I've encountered some profound spiritual insights by delving into how God's Word doesn't return void. Certain well-known passages of Scripture show up in various forms and musical interpretations. One such passage is 1st Corinthians 13, known as the love passage. Many people know the popular verse "love never fails," and artists including Brandon Heath and Ellie Holcomb have written songs with that verse as the song title. Also, inspired by Francis Chan's book Crazy Love, Hawk Nelson and other artists have written songs based on thoughts and concepts from that book, including the song "Crazy Love."

On page 94 of the book Crazy Love, Francis Chan writes: "I was challenged to do a little exercise with these verses, one that was profoundly convicting. Take the phrase 'love is patient' and substitute your name for the word love. Do it for every phrase in the passage. By the end, don't you feel like a liar? If I am meant to represent what love is, then I often fail to love people well. Following Christ isn't something that can be done halfheartedly or on the side. It is not a label we can display when it is useful. It must be central to everything we do and are."

Most recently, Citizens & Saints released their stellar new worship album A Mirror Dimly, and that album title comes from 1 Corinthians 13:12 (NKJV): "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known." Throughout the album, the band addresses that concept with reminders that pain and suffering point us to God and how much we need Him, day by day. While we can't see everything in our fallen world through life's mirror dimly obscuring grace and truth, the album will remind you we are God's "Kids" and "loved no matter what" as expressed in the closing track, "Doubting Doubts."

That got me thinking about my favorite songs based on 1st Corinthians 13. I made a playlist of over 30 songs (which you can find at the end of this article), and have narrowed that down to this selection of 15 songs to highlight. Enjoy, and as you listen to these great songs, a devotional thought is to think about how well we are loving others, and know that Jesus loves you with a "crazy love." No matter what you have done, you are "loved, no matter what." Amen to that!

1. "Doubting Doubts" by Citizens & Saints 
"One of the best days in the history of Seattle was the day Mars Hill shut it doors. While the brothers and sisters of that community may not meet all together in similar places anymore, the Church of Christ did not crumble and it certainly has not weakened because of it. We experienced the love of God through His presence and His people in ways we never had before... There is hope beyond the foggy glass; the joys of being loved forever, free from the burdens of the wounds we all carry." -- Zach Bolen

2. "Crazy Love" by Hawk Nelson
"When someone hurts you or offends you, it's easy to hold a grudge against that person. The song challenges people to let that anger go. That's a tough thing to do and it challenges me personally. We all need to live as grace-filled believers." -- Jason Dunn
To read the full devo, click here.

3. "The Proof of Your Love" by for KING & COUNTRY
"We often try to convolute Scripture and try to build these elaborate ideas of how to become the person we should be. Really it's simple. It may sound rudimentary, but the straight up Truth is that it's about Love." -- Joel Smallbone
To read the full devo, click here.

4. "Love Come to Life" by Big Daddy Weave 
"As believers, we live with this knowledge of God's love, and we are recipients of God's love, but He never intended for it to stop there. I feel like as I'm ready to point my finger at the Church, I am reminded that I am the Church. I see the effect of God's love on my life. The reason that Jesus poured out His love on us was so the world would know who we are by the way we love one another--not just the way we talk about it." -- Mike Weaver
To read the full devo, click here.

5. "Loved" by JJ Heller
"Wounds caused by others in our lives are inevitable, but we choose whether to isolate ourselves with an unforgiving heart or experience the joy and pleasures of relationship by forgiving them. This song is about being proactive. Making the choice to love others well even if that love isn't reciprocated, because it's God's love and acceptance that defines us, not anyone else's." -- JJ Heller
To read the full devo, click here.

6. "Love Like Jesus" by Rhett Walker Band 
"You wake up every morning, and the main thing you think about is how your day will be affected and how you will affect other people. I try to love like Jesus in every scenario, and we try to keep that at the forefront of our minds. You can only live life to the fullest by loving like Jesus. Lord, have mercy because that is easier said than done because people are crazy. Once you figure that out, it all gets easier." -- Rhett Walker
To read the full devo, click here.

7. "Don't Have Love" by Holly Starr
"What God has been showing me is that you can have all the faith in the world, and enough faith to move mountains, but if you don't have love, it is insignificant. I've been challenged by that because I wasn't spending much time praying to have more love." -- Holly Starr
To read the full devo, click here.

8. "With Every Act of Love" by Jason Gray 
"The Kingdom will come, but the Kingdom is also coming right now and we are invited to participate in it. With every act of love, we are allowing the Kingdom to come into the little part of the world that we influence and we can consecrate it to the Kingdom whether we are building a home for the poor, or building a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for our kid. But you should have the best Nike shoes!" -- Jason Gray
To read the full devo, click here.

9. "Loyal" by Lauren Daigle
"God can redeem any story or situation. That's the counterpart of God's loyal love. At any given time you can surrender your heart to God and be set free. We're told that if you fail, God turns His back. That's the exact opposite of God's heart. He tells us that even when we fall, He picks us up." -- Lauren Daigle 
To read the full devo, click here.

10. "Love Never Fails" by Brandon Heath 
11. "Love Never Fails" by Ellie Holcomb 
12. "Love Take Me Over" by Steven Curtis Chapman 
"It's like that Scripture about "putting on love" like clothes. We don't just hop out of bed and go about our day. We first put on our clothes. We need to put on the love of God just like putting on our clothes before our day. We need to have God's love take us over, in me, and on me. The only way I can have love on me is to recognize how loved I am." -- Steven Curtis Chapman
To read the full devo, click here.

13. "Love Alone is Worth the Fight" by Switchfoot 
"Yes, there are dark times when I fear the unknown. I fear pain, I fear humiliation, I'm afraid of the unknown within myself. But reacting blindly, driven by our fears leads us to horrible places. Maybe fear is love's true opposite. Racism, genocide, religious wars- these are fueled by fear. Most of my worst decisions, including hatred, are fueled by fear. But perfect love casts out fears. Perfect love brings us to a place of strength where we can accept the people and situation around us rather than fear it or deny it." -- Jon Foreman

14. "Let Us Love" by NEEDTOBREATHE 
15. "How Did You Love" by Shinedown
"If you've been given the greatest gift in the world, what do you think that gift is? For me, it would be the gift of life, and with that, you have to understand that if you've been given life, you will eventually pass away, but in the meantime, in the middle of all that, what kind of life did you lead? Were you a good person? Did you give back to the world? To your community? Did you give back to society? Did you give to your family? Did you give more than you receive?" -- Brent Smith (iHeart.com)