What it means
Paul’s word for evil here means unrighteousness: wrongdoing, injustice, what is not right. Love takes no pleasure in it. That covers doing wrong, but Paul’s stress is on enjoying it. The NIV says love ‘does not delight in evil’. The ESV says it ‘does not rejoice at wrongdoing’. The King James has “Rejoiceth not in iniquity”.
Most of us will never do great evil. We are more likely to enjoy it at a distance. It shows up as the little thrill of gossip. It is the scandal we keep reading, and the clip of a stranger’s worst moment that we watch twice. It is the quiet satisfaction when a rival stumbles. The Bible names that last one directly: “Do not gloat when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles.”
The verse goes on: love “rejoices in the truth”. It is glad when what is right and true wins, and it is glad for people, never about their troubles.
How John Chrysostom read it
John Chrysostom read this line in the most personal way, as the pleasure we take in other people’s troubles.
“Rejoices not in unrighteousness: i.e., does not feel pleasure over those that suffer ill: and not this only, but also, what is much greater, rejoices with the truth.”
John Chrysostom, Homily 33 on First Corinthians
“we are apt to stand by, finding pleasure in the disgrace of others, and forming a devilish amphitheatre around: than which what can be more cruel?”
John Chrysostom, Homily 15 on Matthew
Chrysostom did not think this pleasure was rare. He asked his hearers about the times “we are pleased when others suffer evil, and account the misfortunes of others a consolation for our own distress.” He pictured a fight in the street, and the crowd that gathers to enjoy it.
Chrysostom’s cure for the pleasure we take in others’ troubles was not to stop feeling. It was to find a better pleasure. Love, he said, makes speaking evil taste bitter and speaking well taste sweet, “for nothing is so sweet to us as to be praising one whom we love.” And this line guards the others. Because love “accounts the good things of others her own”, it has no reason to envy and no wish to see anyone fall.
What it looks like
- When the group chat starts picking apart someone’s breakup, you don’t ask for the details.
- You scroll past the video of a stranger losing it in a store instead of watching it twice and sending it on.
- A coworker who made your life hard gets passed over, and you find you feel for them instead of feeling vindicated.
- Someone whose views you can’t stand is caught in a scandal, and your first feeling is sorrow, not ‘I knew it.’
What missing it looks like
- “I’m only telling you because I thought you’d want to know.”
- “Honestly? He had it coming.”
- “I’m not glad it happened. I just want to hear everything about it.”
- “It’s only entertainment. I’m not the one doing it.”
Learn from Jonathan
The king’s son, who wanted his friend to be king.
When Saul ordered David killed, Jonathan went to his father: “The king should not sin against his servant David.” Later he got up from the king’s table, “grieved by his father’s shameful treatment of David.” 1 Samuel 19:4; 20:34
Jonathan stood to gain the most if David fell, and it only grieved him.
Read about JonathanOne step to try
When the talk turns to someone’s fall, don’t feed it.
“Do not give your ear to the tongue that runs others down, or your tongue to the ear that loves to find fault, gladly speaking or listening against your neighbor.” Maximus the Confessor, Chapters on Love
Questions and answers
What does ‘love does not delight in evil’ mean?
It means love is never glad about wrongdoing, whether it is doing wrong or enjoying someone else’s. The Berean Standard Bible says love “takes no pleasure in evil”, and the King James “Rejoiceth not in iniquity”. John Chrysostom read it as refusing to be pleased when others suffer. Love’s joy goes the other way: it “rejoices in the truth”.
Is it wrong to be glad when someone gets what they deserve?
Being glad that a wrong has been stopped is not wrong. Gloating over the person is. Proverbs warns, “Do not gloat when your enemy falls.” John Chrysostom pointed to Christ, Who, when He was about to be crucified, “wept for them that were crucifying Him.” Love can welcome justice and still hope the one who did wrong turns around.
Is gossip a way of taking pleasure in evil?
Often, yes. Gossip enjoys someone’s faults at a distance, and passing them on is part of the pleasure. John Chrysostom was blunt: “Our lips should be pure from reviling. For if our reproaches are true, it is not for us to utter them”. Two questions help. Would you say it with them in the room? Would you want it said about you?
