Love Doesn’t Celebrate What Is Wrong

10/19/2026

Have you ever found yourself secretly satisfied when someone who hurt you experiences a little trouble of their own? Maybe someone treated you unfairly, spread something about you that wasn’t true, or made your life unnecessarily difficult. Then, somewhere down the road, things don’t go quite so well for them. You may never say it out loud, but there’s a little voice inside that says, “Well, they had that coming.” I think if we’re willing to be honest, most of us have experienced that feeling. But what does that reveal about our hearts? And what does it tell us about the kind of love God is calling us to have?

“it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.”
- 1 Corinthians 13:6 ESV

When we read 1 Corinthians 13, we usually think about weddings. We’ve heard these words spoken as couples stand before God, promising to love one another. And certainly, this chapter has a great deal to teach us about marriage. But Paul wasn’t writing a wedding ceremony. He was writing to a church that was struggling with division, pride, jealousy, and people who seemed more interested in proving themselves right than loving one another.

Does that sound familiar?

The Corinthian church had spiritual gifts, knowledge, and plenty of religious activity. What they were missing was the kind of love that should have been holding everything together.

And right in the middle of Paul’s description of love, he makes a statement that should cause every one of us to examine our hearts. Love doesn’t celebrate wrongdoing. It celebrates truth.

Now, I want us to understand something here. Paul isn’t simply telling us that we shouldn’t enjoy watching people do bad things. He’s addressing something much deeper. He’s talking about what brings us satisfaction, what we find pleasure in, and what we secretly celebrate.

Because it’s possible to say we love someone while quietly enjoying their failures.

Think about that for a minute.

We can pray for someone on Sunday and enjoy hearing a little gossip about them on Monday. We can say we want someone to succeed, but when they stumble, there’s a part of us that feels vindicated. We can claim to care about truth while eagerly sharing something negative about a person without ever bothering to find out whether it’s true.

And sometimes, if we’re being completely honest, we don’t even want the truth to get in the way of a good story.

That’s a problem.

Especially for those of us who claim to follow Jesus.

I’ve watched how quickly people can turn on one another over disagreements. It happens in families, workplaces, friendships, and sadly, even in churches. Someone makes a mistake, and instead of asking how we can help restore them, people begin discussing what happened. Before long, their failure becomes the subject of conversations they aren’t even part of.

But love doesn’t find entertainment in someone else’s brokenness.

That doesn’t mean we ignore sin. It doesn’t mean we excuse wrongdoing, avoid difficult conversations, or pretend that everything is fine when it isn’t.

In fact, the second half of this verse makes that clear. Love rejoices with the truth.

Biblical love is never separated from biblical truth.

Jesus demonstrated this beautifully in John 8 when the religious leaders brought a woman caught in adultery before Him. They weren’t particularly interested in helping her. They wanted to use her failure to trap Jesus.

But Jesus refused to participate in their condemnation.

He also refused to pretend that her sin didn’t matter.

After her accusers walked away, Jesus told her that He did not condemn her, and then instructed her to go and sin no more.

There was grace. There was truth. And neither one canceled out the other.

I believe this is something the church desperately needs to recover.

We’ve somehow convinced ourselves that loving people means affirming everything they do, or that standing for truth requires us to be harsh toward those who disagree with us.

Neither is what Jesus demonstrated.

Love without truth becomes permission. Truth without love becomes a weapon.

God calls us to something better.

Paul’s words also challenge the way we respond when someone we love is making destructive decisions.

Sometimes loving someone means having a conversation we’d rather avoid. It means saying, “I care too much about you to pretend this isn’t hurting you.” It may mean confronting sin, establishing boundaries, or refusing to participate in something we know is wrong.

But our motivation matters.

Are we confronting them because we want to see them restored? Or because we want to prove we’re right?

Are we speaking truth because we genuinely love them? Or because we’re frustrated, angry, or tired of dealing with them?

The same words can come from very different hearts.

And God sees the difference.

There’s another side to this verse that I don’t want us to miss.

If love rejoices with the truth, then we should genuinely celebrate when truth brings freedom into someone’s life.

When someone admits they were wrong, we should celebrate their honesty rather than keep reminding them of their failure. When someone turns away from sin, we should encourage their repentance rather than question whether they’ll ever really change. When someone who has been struggling begins taking steps toward Christ, we should be among the first to cheer them on.

After all, isn’t that what we would want someone to do for us?

I think about the father in the parable of the prodigal son. His boy had made a mess of things. He had wasted his inheritance and brought shame upon himself. The father had every reason to be disappointed.

But when that son came home, the father didn’t stand on the porch rehearsing everything the boy had done wrong.

He ran to meet him.

He celebrated his return.

The father wasn’t celebrating the son’s rebellion. He was celebrating his repentance and restoration.

That’s the difference Paul wants us to understand.

We don’t celebrate the things that destroy people. We celebrate the truth that sets them free.

And before we begin thinking about all the people who need to hear this message, perhaps we should ask ourselves a more personal question.

What have I been celebrating lately?

Have I been pleased when someone who offended me experienced difficulty? Have I repeated something about another person because it supported what I already believed? Have I remained silent when someone needed to hear the truth because I didn’t want an uncomfortable conversation?

Or have I been willing to love people enough to speak honestly, forgive freely, and genuinely desire what is best for them?

That’s where this verse becomes personal.

Because loving people the way Jesus loves us isn’t always easy. Sometimes it requires us to surrender our pride, our resentment, and our desire to be proven right.

And we won’t do that consistently through willpower alone. We need the Holy Spirit to change what brings joy to our hearts.

Here’s something worth carrying with us today: Love doesn’t ask, “How can I be proven right?” Love asks, “How can God’s truth bring restoration?”

That’s the kind of love that reflects Jesus.

And that’s the kind of love our families, our churches, and our communities need to see.

Action Steps

1. Examine what brings you satisfaction. Think about your recent conversations and reactions to other people’s struggles. Have you found yourself enjoying someone’s failure or passing along information that could hurt them? Be honest with God about what you discover.

2. Practice speaking truth with love. If there’s a difficult conversation you’ve been avoiding, ask God for wisdom and the right attitude. Speak honestly, but make sure your goal is restoration rather than winning an argument.

3. Celebrate someone’s progress. Encourage someone who is making positive changes, especially someone who has struggled in the past. Let them know you see their efforts and are cheering them on.

Challenge for the Day

Before you speak about someone’s mistake, failure, or struggle today, ask yourself: “Would I say this if they were standing right here, and will my words help bring truth, healing, or restoration?” If the answer is no, choose love and keep silent.

Prayer

Father, I know there have been times when I’ve been more concerned about being right than being loving. Forgive me for the moments when I’ve found satisfaction in someone else’s struggles or failed to speak the truth when love required it. Help me to see people the way You see them. Give me the courage to stand for truth without becoming harsh, and the compassion to extend grace without compromising what is right. Change my heart so that I find joy in seeing people restored, forgiven, and walking in Your truth. Let my words and actions reflect the love You’ve shown me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Pastor Jeff

#LoveGod #LovePeople #FindFreedom #FindYourDesign