1 Thessalonians 5:13

1 Thessalonians 5:13, in plain English

Love your leaders deeply because of the work they do, and live peacefully with one another.

Why it's here

Paul is not asking blind obedience—he's asking for love rooted in understanding what leaders actually do. And that love should overflow into how you treat each other.

Who's speaking

Paul, deepening the call to honor leadership

Where it sits in the story

This connects to Jesus's teaching about honoring those who serve, and to his command that others will know we're his disciples by our love for one another.

The scholarly reading

Regard these leaders with the highest affection and respect because of their laborious service, and maintain peaceful relationships within the community.

Language and setting

The phrase 'in love, hold them in highest regard' (en agapē perisperissōs en logō timē autous) places the esteem of leadership within the framework of love—not hierarchical honor but familial affection. The insistence on peace (eirēneuo) throughout suggests that factional divisions, possibly rooted in eschatological disputes, threatened communal unity.

Voice

Paul

Significance

This balances the previous verse's assertion of leadership authority with the primacy of love (agapē) that structures all Christian obligation—leadership exists to serve the community, not to dominate it.

11Therefore encourage and build one another up, just as you are already doing.

12But we ask you, brothers, to acknowledge those who work diligently among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you.

13In love, hold them in highest regard because of their work. Live in peace with one another.

14And we urge you, brothers, to admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with everyone.

15Make sure that no one repays evil for evil. Always pursue what is good for one another and for all people.

Read all of 1 Thessalonians 5 — The day will come like a thief in the night. But you are children of the light. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in everything.