If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love (1 Cor. 13:1-13).

This is a very well-known chapter of the Bible, for more than one reason. It is often quoted when speaking of or describing love. It is also sometimes quoted when speaking of certain spiritual gifts, whether they are or are not still in operation today. This week we will take a close look at this much-beloved passage of Paul to see what we can learn from it.

The Context

As always, we must start by placing the passage in its immediate context. This letter focuses on problems in the church of Corinth and certain questions that the church asked. The beginning of chapter 12, “Now concerning spiritual gifts. . .” tells us that this is one of the subjects that the church had questions about. Paul continues the discussion in chapter 14, and thus, chapter 13 might seem like an interruption. However, that’s not the case.

Chapter 12 focuses on a few facts about spiritual gifts: 1) It is the Holy Spirit that gives gifts to believers; 2) though gifts differ, they are given with the same purpose—to edify the church; 3) everyone does not possess the same gifts; 4) those who have certain gifts should not think themselves more spiritual than those who do not. It seems that the Corinthians had gotten in the habit of arguing over which gifts were the most important, and thus should be sought after. At the end of the chapter, he writes these words:

Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way (12:29-31).

The last sentence is the transition statement to chapter 13. Love, then, is the “more excellent way” that Paul shows the Corinthians. Chapter 13 can be seen to answer the question, “Why is love the more excellent way?” Paul gives three answers: 1) Without love, nothing else matters; 2) love embodies the fruit of the Spirit; and 3) love is eternal.

Without Love, Nothing Else Matters

Paul starts out by reminding the Corinthians what he has reminded other believers: Love is the most important thing (vv. 1-3). He then gives some examples of what he means:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal (v. 1). It doesn’t matter how eloquent I speak if I do not do so in love.

If I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing (v. 2). Even if I am the most super-spiritual person, directly connected to God and His knowledge, if I don’t have love in my heart and my actions, none of that matters. I am nothing.

If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing (v. 3). Even if I do good deeds and sacrifice myself as a martyr, I am still nothing and I gain nothing by it without love.

In truth, anything done without love is done for self. Love is the central issue, the defining character of a believer.

Love Embodies the Fruit of the Spirit

Paul’s second reason that love is the more excellent way is that love, when properly understood, embodies the fruit of the Spirit (vv. 4-7). He then proceeds to tell what love “looks like.”

If you look at the traits of love and compare them to the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), you find remarkable overlap in the traits. Paul goes farther here, though. He gets even more detailed:

Love is not rude (v. 5a). There is no place in the life of a loving Christian (a redundant term, yes) for rudeness.

It is not stubborn, irritable, or resentful (v. 5b). This corresponds with the fruit of the Spirit where Paul mentions patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control.

It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth (v. 6). Love takes no pleasure in wrongdoing, even if the wrong is done to one’s enemy. Love speaks the truth, not in condemnation but with an aim to restoration.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (v. 7). Like Christ, love bears all hurts and wrongs, always believing that there is something more beyond the moment. Love endures the hurt, pain and rejection in the same manner as Christ did.

By contrast, spiritual gifts have nothing to do with character. King Saul actually gave true words of prophecy during the time of his downfall, but would we call him loving during that time? Hardly! Spiritual gifts are given as tools. Like tools, they can be misused. They neither confer nor spring from character. We have all seen those who seem to be the most spiritually gifted people turn out to be the most unloving. Jesus said that the world would know we are His disciples by our love, not our gifts.

Love is Eternal

Finally, Paul shows that love is eternal (vv. 8-12). God created the universe and mankind in love. Love thus will continue into all eternity. These verses have often sparked controversy, but as with many controversies, the point of the passage often gets overlooked.

He starts out in verse 8: “Love never ends.” That is a fairly obvious statement. Love will have no end. It will continue throughout eternity. However, prophecies will “pass away,” tongues will “cease,” and “[the gift of] knowledge will pass away.” He says these things, which in the context represent all spiritual gifts, will end “when the perfect comes.” Whatever this phrase means, whether the close of the canon of Scripture or the second coming of Christ, the point is that the gifts were given until no longer needed.

He reminds his readers that “we know in part and we prophesy in part” (v. 9). To Paul, even the knowledge he had was incomplete. Even the gifts were not complete. He compares the gifts to a child’s way of thinking—incomplete. A child hasn’t grown up yet, and so he needs certain things to help him mature. The gifts, then, were given to help the church mature. Right now, Paul says, we only know partially. “Then,” he says (when the perfect has come), “I will know fully, even as I am known.” At that time, there will be no need for the gifts.

Of course, the question is raised, “What does ‘the perfect’ refer to?” The simple answer is that Paul doesn’t elaborate. It’s clear from his writings that Paul believed the Lord’s return would be “soon.” But, it’s like when one is walking in a wide plain toward a huge mountain. The mountain seems so close, but we seem to not get any closer—though we are in fact making progress toward it. A plausible case can be made for either side of the argument—and since this post is about love, we’ll save that topic for another time. For now, it is important to grasp the main point of the chapter—love is greater than al.

We must not compare ourselves with others, particularly in terms of spiritual gifts or talents. Each is given His gifts by God’s good pleasure and how best to serve the body. Yet, those gifts function as intended only when done in love.