1 Corinthians 13:4-5
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (NKJV)
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (NIV)
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up; Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (KJV)
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (NLT)
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (ESV)
Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act disgracefully, does not seek its own benefit, is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (NASB)Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy nor does it parade itself, is not arrogant (inflated with pride); it does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own [things], is not provoked [nor overly sensitive and easily angered]; it does not take into account a wrong endured.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (AMP)Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org
Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].
1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (AMPC)Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org
Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, doesn't have a swelled head, doesn't force itself on others, isn't always "me first," doesn't fly off the handle, doesn't keep score of the sins of others.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (MSG)Scripture quotations from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
New Covenant Meaning
Love Is Described by What It Does and Does Not Do
Paul does not define love as a feeling. He describes it as a series of actions and attitudes. Love suffers long. Love is kind. Love does not envy, does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil. Every statement is concrete. Every one describes a choice or a posture. This is helpful because it means love is something you can actually practice regardless of how you feel in a given moment. When you do not feel patient, you can still choose the action of patience. Love in 1 Corinthians 13 is less about emotion and more about direction.
Love Is Not Self-Centered
One of the clearest threads running through verses 4 and 5 is that love is fundamentally oriented outward. It does not seek its own. It is not puffed up with its own importance. It does not parade itself. Love is the posture of someone whose attention is on the other person rather than on themselves. This runs directly against the natural human tendency toward self-protection and self-promotion. The love Paul describes is possible only from a person who is secure enough in who they are that they do not need to grab for status or defend their position. That security comes from knowing who you are in Christ.
In the New Covenant, 1 John 4:8 says God is love. The love described in 1 Corinthians 13 is not a standard of human achievement. It is a description of God's own character, and it is the character He is forming in believers through the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22 lists love as the first fruit of the Spirit. The love in 1 Corinthians 13 is not something you manufacture by trying harder. It is the overflow of a life connected to the one who is love. John 15:5 says apart from Jesus you can do nothing. The love that does not envy, does not seek its own, and thinks no evil is the love that flows from abiding in the vine.
Application for Your Life
Use This List as a Mirror, Not a Measuring Stick for Others
The most powerful use of 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 is not evaluating whether other people are loving you this way. It is examining how you are loving the people in your life. Read the list slowly and personally. Am I patient with the people I love most? Am I seeking my own way in this relationship? Am I keeping a mental record of what has been done to me? Let the list reveal the specific places where love needs to grow in you. Not as condemnation, but as direction. This is where the Spirit wants to work.
Ask the Spirit to Produce This Love in You
You cannot love the way 1 Corinthians 13 describes by sheer determination. It is too demanding and goes too against the grain of natural self-interest. But Galatians 5:22 says love is a fruit of the Spirit. You can ask the Holy Spirit to produce this kind of love in you toward specific people in specific situations. Before a difficult conversation, pray for love. Before you engage with someone who has hurt you, ask for the love that thinks no evil and is not provoked. The Spirit who lives in you is capable of producing exactly what 1 Corinthians 13 describes.
Prayer Based on This Verse
Father, I want to love the way Your word describes. I want to be patient, kind, and not easily provoked. I want to stop seeking my own way and stop keeping score of what others have done to me. I know I cannot do this on my own, and I am not trying to. Holy Spirit, produce this love in me. Let me love the people in my life the way You love them. Where I have been impatient, unkind, or self-focused, forgive me and change me. I am available to be loved through. Make me someone who carries the love of God into every relationship I have. In Jesus name. Amen.