Behind the Fire #003 Love With a Backbone
🔥 Behind the Fire #003 — Love With a Backbone
1 Corinthians 13:6 — “It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.”
Welcome Back to Behind the Fire
Behind the Fire — a weekly dive into the Scriptures that fuel Spirit and Fire.
Every design. Every message. Every drop. All of it rooted in a holiness that refuses to bow to the world’s definition of love.
Scripture Spotlight
1 Corinthians 13:6 (ESV)
“It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.”
The Fire in the Verse (Background)
Who wrote this?
The Apostle Paul, likely during the end of his stay in Ephesus around A.D. 54–55.
Who was it written to?
The church in Corinth, Greece — a community Paul himself planted around A.D. 50–51.
Why did Paul write this?
Because the church was a wreck.
Deeply fractured, confused, and morally compromised:
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Sexual immorality tolerated
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Divisions over leadership
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Chaos in worship
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Misunderstanding of the resurrection
Honestly — sounds like some churches today.
And this wasn’t Paul’s first attempt. In 1 Corinthians 5:9, he references a previous letter addressing their sin. After hearing that the problems persisted (1:11), he wrote what we now know as 1 Corinthians and sent Timothy to help steady the church.
The Fire in the Verse (Breakdown)
1 Corinthians 13 — The “Love Chapter”
This chapter defines love — not as the world imagines it, but as God defines it.
Paul tells us what love is and what love is not.
Our verse is the sharpest line in the chapter:
“It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.”
What is “wrongdoing”?
The Greek word is ἀδικία (adikia) — injustice, evil, unrighteousness.
It’s not vague. It’s not neutral.
Paul is saying:
Love does not celebrate what God condemns.
And yet look around.
Culture rejoices in what God calls evil:
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“Abortion is healthcare.”
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“Gender is a social construct.”
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“Love is love” used to justify everything from homosexuality to, increasingly, pedophilia.
This is not love. This is a world cheering for rebellion because it hates the God of truth.
What is “truth”?
The Greek is ἀλήθεια (aletheia) — truth, reality, revelation. Paul uses it to point to the gospel — the truth that stands in contrast to the unrighteousness the world applauds.
Real love celebrates truth, not sin.
How Do We Apply This?
Where are you failing to love the way you should?
Pastor Joby Martin gives a powerful exercise in Stand Firm & Act Like Men.
Take 1 Corinthians 13:4–7, and replace “love” with your name:
Josh is patient and kind;
Josh does not envy or boast;
Josh is not arrogant or rude;
Josh does not insist on his own way;
Josh is not irritable or resentful;
Josh does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but Josh rejoices with the truth;
Josh bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
Now do the same — replacing “love” with “God.”
Feel the contrast.
That contrast is where growth happens.
Aside from laughing at how badly we fail, this exercise exposes where our love is weak — where we need Christ to strengthen us.
Behind the Fire
Here’s the truth:
Love without holiness isn’t love — it’s cowardice dressed as compassion.
Culture rejoices in sin because it hates the God of truth. But believers rejoice in the truth because we belong to the God of love — a love that tells the truth even when it cuts our sinful nature.
Christ didn’t love us by affirming our sin. He loved us by dying for it.He loved us by setting us free from it. Jesus meets us where we are — but praise God, He never leaves us there.
That’s why 1 Corinthians 13:6 is a war verse for Christian men.
Real love has a backbone.
Real love stands with God, not with culture.
Real love rejoices in the gospel, not in rebellion.
This is the fire behind Spirit and Fire. We’re not a brand built on niceness.
We’re a people called to holiness — to proclaim truth with courage and tenderness. And to love fiercely, honestly, and sacrificially.
The world calls that hate. God calls it love.
Reflection & Application
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Where have you been pressured to celebrate what God calls sin?
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How is God calling you to love someone with truth — not silence or sentiment?
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What would it look like for your love to become holy, honest, and courageous this week?
🔥 Fire Challenge
The first five people who submit their written reflections HERE will receive 30% off their next order.
Submissions close Saturday at midnight.
Call to Action
This week, love with a backbone.
Love with truth.
Love like Christ —
the One who refused to rejoice in sin
and gave His life to rescue us from it.
— Josh | Spirit and Fire
“Set Apart. Set on Fire.”