Do everything in love.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let all that you do be done in love.
- KJV Let all your things be done with charity.
- NKJV Let all that you do be done with love.
- NASB All that you do must be done in love.
- NLT And do everything with love.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Every action of the believer is to be governed by love. It applies the great 'love chapter' to the whole of daily conduct.
Overview
This brief verse draws on the extended teaching of 1 Corinthians 13, where Paul showed that gifts and deeds without love are worthless. The courage and strength just commanded (verse 13) must never harden into harshness; love is the controlling motive for all Christian behavior. It reflects the gospel itself, since Christ's self-giving love is both the source and the pattern of the love believers are called to show.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- John 13:34–35A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.
- 1 Pet 4:8Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
- 1 Tim 1:5The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith.
- 1 Jn 4:7–8Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
- 1 Cor 12:31But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.
- John 15:17This is My command to you: Love one another.
- Gal 5:22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
- Rom 13:8–10Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
- 1 Th 3:12And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love for one another and for everyone else, just as our love for you overflows,
- Gal 5:13–14For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.
- 2 Pet 1:7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.
- 1 Th 4:9–10Now about brotherly love, you do not need anyone to write to you, because you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another.
- Phil 2:1–3Therefore if you have any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,
- Rom 14:15If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died.
- 1 Th 3:6But just now, Timothy has returned from his visit with the good news about your faith, your love, and the fond memories you have preserved, longing to see us just as we long to see you.
- 1 Cor 8:1Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
- Eph 4:1–3As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received:
- 2 Th 1:3We are obligated to thank God for you all the time, brothers, as is fitting, because your faith is growing more and more, and your love for one another is increasing.
- Heb 13:4Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 16:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.