Reflections & Conversations on Loving Well: A Weekly Guide Through 1 Corinthians 13
Once a week, read the entire passage below, then answer the weekly section questions. I recommend reflecting and answering the weekly “Personal” and “Couple” questions independently in a journal before sharing your answers together. Use the “Prayer” as a starting point for praying specifically about what you have shared with one another. I hope that God instills in both of you His definition of love, in order that you might grow together in that love, which He has given to us fully in Christ.
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 ESV
(1) If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. (2) And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (3) If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
(4) Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant (5) or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; (6) it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. (7) Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (8) Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. (9) For we know in part and we prophesy in part, (10) but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
(11) When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. (12) For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (13) So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Week 1: "If I have not love, I am nothing." (vv. 1-3)
Personal Reflection:
To “have not love” implies a need to receive it first. Where do I need to first receive this “love”?
Where do I rely on being right, knowledgeable, competent, spiritual, or helpful instead of loving?
What might God be showing me about the condition of my heart?
Have I confused loving actions with a loving spirit?
Couple Reflection:
What tends to matter more to us than love during conflict?
How have we experienced love from God even in difficult seasons?
What would it look like for love to become our highest value?
Prayer: Lord, help us pursue one another with Your love rather than our own strength, wisdom, or effort.
Week 2: "Love is patient." (v. 4)
Personal Reflection:
Where am I impatient with my spouse’s growth? What about with my own growth?
What expectations do I carry that may be unrealistic?
How has God shown patience toward me recently?
Am I allowing God to work in His timing?
Couple Reflection:
Where is patience most needed in our relationship right now?
What wounds or struggles require ongoing grace?
How can we create space for healing without rushing one another?
Prayer: God, teach us to love at the pace of Your grace.
Week 3: "Love is kind." (v. 4)
Personal Reflection:
Do my words make my spouse feel valued and safe?
When was the last time I intentionally encouraged my spouse?
What keeps me from expressing tenderness?
Couple Reflection:
What forms of kindness help each of us feel loved?
When have we recently experienced kindness from one another?
What practical act of kindness could we offer this week?
Prayer: Father, let our words and actions reflect Your kindness toward us.
Week 4: "Love does not envy or boast." (v. 4)
Personal Reflection:
Am I secretly keeping score?
Do I seek recognition more than connection?
What insecurities do I need to surrender to Christ?
Couple Reflection:
How can we celebrate one another rather than compete?
What strengths has God uniquely given each of us?
How can we become each other's greatest encourager?
Prayer: Lord, help us delight in one another's victories.
Week 5: "Love is not arrogant or rude." (vv. 4-5)
Personal Reflection:
How do pride and defensiveness appear in my life?
Where have I dismissed, minimized, or talked over my spouse?
What would humility look like in our relationship today?
Couple Reflection:
What helps each of us feel respected?
How do we typically respond when we feel hurt or criticized?
How can we grow in honoring one another?
Prayer: Jesus, replace our pride with gentleness and humility.
Week 6: "Love does not insist on its own way." (v. 5)
Personal Reflection:
What am I holding onto too tightly?
Where am I demanding rather than inviting?
What preference or expectation might God be asking me to release?
Couple Reflection:
What recurring conflict reveals our struggle for control?
How can we pursue a goal of unity rather than individually winning?
What would mutual submission in love look like this week?
Prayer: Lord, teach us to seek Your will above our own.
Week 7: "Love is not irritable or resentful." (v. 5)
Personal Reflection:
What hurts am I continuing to replay?
Where has disappointment become bitterness?
What pain do I need to entrust to Christ?
Couple Reflection:
What unresolved wounds still need healing?
What helps each of us feel understood when hurt?
What would forgiveness look like in our current season?
Prayer: Father, free us from resentment/contempt and fill us with Your mercy.
Week 8: "Love rejoices with the truth." (v. 6)
Personal Reflection:
Is there any truth I am avoiding?
Am I honest about my fears, struggles, and needs?
What truth about God's grace do I need to remember today?
Couple Reflection:
How safe are we with one another emotionally?
What conversations have we been avoiding?
How can we speak truth with grace and compassion?
Prayer: God of truth, help us walk honestly before You and one another.
Week 9: "Love bears all things." (v. 7)
Personal Reflection:
What challenge could God be asking me to endure faithfully?
How has Christ graciously carried me through difficult times?
Where do I need growth in perseverance?
Couple Reflection:
What burdens do we feel we are carrying together? Alone?
How can we support one another more effectively?
What does steadfast love look like in this season?
Prayer: Lord, strengthen us to carry one another's burdens.
Week 10: "Love believes all things." (v. 7)
Personal Reflection:
Do I assume the best or the worst about my spouse?
Have I become cynical?
How does God's grace towards me change the way I see others?
Couple Reflection:
What growth do we see in one another?
How can we extend grace without ignoring reality?
What would it look like to trust God's work in each other?
Prayer: Jesus, help us see one another through the lens of Your grace.
Week 11: "Love hopes all things." (v. 7)
Personal Reflection:
Where have I lost hope?
What promises of God sustain me today?
What future redemption am I trusting Christ to bring?
Couple Reflection:
What dreams do we still have for our marriage?
Where have we seen God's faithfulness to us in the past?
What are we hoping God will continue to do in us?
Prayer: Lord, restore our confidence in Your redeeming power.
Week 12: "Love endures all things." (v. 7)
Personal Reflection:
What commitment is God asking me to renew?
How do I respond when loving becomes costly?
Where do I need Christ's strength rather than my own?
Couple Reflection:
What have we already overcome together?
How is God strengthening us through hardship?
What covenant promises do we want to reaffirm?
Prayer: Father, strengthen our commitment to love faithfully through every season.
Week 13: "For now we see in a mirror dimly..." (vv. 9-12)
Personal Reflection:
Where might I be misunderstanding my spouse?
What assumptions am I making?
How does remembering my own limitations create humility?
Couple Reflection:
What is something I may not fully understand about your experience?
How can I become more curious instead of judgmental?
What would it look like to seek understanding before being understood?
Prayer: Lord, give us humble hearts that listen well and seek understanding.
Week 14: "Faith, Hope, and Love abide..." (v. 13)
Personal Reflection:
Where is Christ asking me to trust Him more deeply?
What hope is He asking me to hold onto?
What act of love is He inviting me to practice today?
Couple Reflection:
How has God been specifically growing our faith?
What gives us hope right now?
How can we intentionally love one another this week?
What would it look like for our marriage to reflect Christ more clearly?
