1 Peter 4:8
About this verseAbove all, keep loving each other deeply, because love is quick to cover over many wrongs.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Paul describes love as patient and kind, free of envy, pride and resentment, and as something that never stops bearing, believing, hoping and enduring.
Love is patient; love is kind. Love does not envy, does not show off, is not puffed up. It does not behave shamefully, it does not look for its own advantage, it does not lose its temper, and it does not keep a tally of wrongs. It takes no pleasure in wrongdoing, but shares the joy of the truth. There is nothing love cannot bear, no time when it stops believing or hoping, nothing it cannot endure.
Try it now
Say the verse aloud, filling in each blank. Tap a blank for a hint.
What 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 means
Read at countless weddings, but written to a quarrelling church divided over status and spiritual gifts. Paul places it deliberately in the middle of that argument.
Notice that nearly every line is a verb or a behaviour, not a feeling. Love is described by what it does and refuses to do. Memorised, it becomes an uncomfortable and useful mirror — try substituting your own name for the word ‘love’ and reading it again.
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Questions about 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
What does 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 mean?
It defines love by its conduct — patient, kind, not envious or proud, not self-seeking or easily angered — and says it bears, believes, hopes and endures all things.
Why was 1 Corinthians 13 written?
Not for weddings, but to a divided church arguing about spiritual gifts. Paul shows that gifts without love are worth nothing, which is why the chapter sits where it does.