📖WEB · 1 Corinthians 13:5
What does 1 Corinthians 13:5 mean?
"doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil;"
— 1 Corinthians 13:5 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing.
If I give away all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing.
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, 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.
Explanation
1 Corinthians 13:5 continues Paul's description of love in what is often called the "love chapter," listing four more qualities of genuine love by describing what it does not do. In plain language, this verse says that love does not act in rude, unbecoming, or improper ways; it does not insist on having its own way or pursuing only its own interests; it is not easily angered or irritated; and it does not keep a record of wrongs done against it. Each phrase describes a restraint that love exercises even when circumstances might tempt a person to act otherwise.
The context is Paul's letter to the church in Corinth, a congregation marked by divisions, spiritual pride, and interpersonal conflict. The Corinthians valued flashy spiritual gifts like tongues and prophecy, sometimes using them to elevate themselves over others. In chapters 12-14, Paul addresses proper use of spiritual gifts, and chapter 13 sits right in the middle as a corrective: gifts without love are worthless noise. Paul, writing as an apostle deeply invested in this troubled church, is essentially saying that the way believers treat one another matters more than the impressiveness of their spiritual displays. This verse fits into that larger argument by naming the specific relational sins that were likely fracturing the Corinthian community—self-seeking behavior, quick tempers, and grudge-holding.
Theologically, this verse teaches that love is not primarily a feeling but a pattern of action and restraint. It reveals love's other-centered nature: love doesn't demand its own way, doesn't need
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