1 Corinthians 13:11 means that spiritual maturity involves setting aside the immature ways of thinking, speaking and feeling that belonged to an earlier stage of life. Paul uses the picture of a child growing into an adult to show that believers are meant to outgrow what is partial and incomplete. He wrote this to the church in Corinth, a community that was proud of its spiritual gifts but often behaved in petty and divided ways.
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things.
1 Corinthians 13:11 (WEB)
What 1 Corinthians 13:11 Means
Paul begins with a simple comparison that everyone understands. A small child talks, reasons and reacts in a way that fits a small child’s understanding. Nobody blames a four-year-old for thinking the world revolves around them, because that is what four-year-olds usually think. The phrase “I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child” covers the whole person: words, emotions and reasoning. Paul is saying that his own earlier life in faith had the same limits, and that he has moved past them.
The second half of the verse, “I have put away childish things,” is a picture of putting childish clothes or toys aside. It describes a deliberate change, not a failure. The verse does not promise that maturity arrives automatically or that a believer will never struggle again. It describes a direction of growth that Paul expects to continue until the complete understanding he mentions in verses 10 and 12 arrives.
The Context of 1 Corinthians 13:11
First Corinthians was written by Paul, who founded the church in Corinth, to a congregation facing real problems of division, pride and misuse of spiritual gifts. Chapter 13 is often called the “love chapter,” and it sits between a discussion of spiritual gifts in chapters 12 and 14. Paul argues that gifts such as prophecy and knowledge are temporary and partial, while love endures. Verses 8 to 10 explain that these partial gifts will one day be replaced by something complete.
Read in that setting, verse 11 is an illustration rather than a standalone lesson. Paul is showing the Corinthians that their current spiritual experience resembles childhood compared with the fullness that will come. Verse 12 then shifts to the image of seeing dimly in a mirror now and seeing face to face later. The childhood picture helps the reader feel the difference between partial and full understanding.
Key Phrases in 1 Corinthians 13:11
1 Corinthians 13:12
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known.
(WEB)
This verse continues Paul’s thought by contrasting our partial sight now with the full knowledge we will have later. It explains the hope behind the growth described in verse 11.
Ephesians 4:15
But speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Christ…
(WEB)
Paul writes here about speaking the truth in love so that believers grow up in every way into Christ. It develops the same theme of maturing in speech and character.
A Short Prayer From 1 Corinthians 13:11
Lord, you have seen every immature word I have spoken and every childish reaction I have shown. Thank you that you do not leave me where I started. Help me to notice the habits of thought and speech that belong to an earlier season, and give me the courage to set them aside. Teach me to speak with patience, to feel with steadiness and to think with humility, all grounded in your love. Until the day I see you face to face, keep me growing toward the fullness you have promised. Amen.
