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.
Context and meaning
The text most read at weddings was not written for couples. Paul writes to a divided church that was arguing over who had the most impressive gifts. In the middle of that fight, he interrupts the argument to say that without love none of it counts for anything.
Notice that he never defines love as a feeling. The whole list is made of verbs: it is patient, it is kind, it does not envy, it is not proud, it does not seek its own way, it is not provoked, it takes no account of evil. Love here is verifiable behavior.
That changes how it reads on a wedding day. Instead of describing what the couple feels, the text describes what they will have to decide to do — including in the years when the feeling runs low.
The closing line — "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" — is a ladder of endurance. And verse 8 gives the verdict: "love never fails".
This verse appears in
Scripture text: World English Bible (WEB), public domain. Prayers, introductions and reflections: original text by this site, not affiliated with any denomination. Devotional content; it does not replace medical, psychological or legal advice.
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