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1 Corinthians 13:4-7
The Nature of Love
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
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Why it is worth knowing
- Love is described behaviorally: it is shown in actions, not just felt in emotions
- Eight things love is not listed alongside the positives: love is defined in contrast
- “Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things”: love is stubbornly resilient
- This is the character of God himself, and the standard for Christian relationships
Where it sits: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with.
Hear the passage it sits in, sung word for word, on BibleDo's 1 Corinthians page.
Background
1 Corinthians 13 (the “love chapter”) was not written for weddings; it was written to correct a church proud of its spiritual gifts. The Corinthians were exercising gifts without love, making them spiritually useless (verses 1-3). Paul’s famous description of love is actually a portrait of Jesus: patient, kind, not self-seeking. A long devotional tradition suggests substituting “Christ” for “love” in these verses to see how perfectly they describe him. The list is also a mirror: each characteristic reveals where we fall short and where we need grace.