Ah, 1 Corinthians 13. A well-known, well-loved passage of Scripture. Often seen on coffee cups, wall hangings, and apparently shoes.
I wonder how many who proudly display their love for love understand the true meaning of these verses?
The Context of 1 Corinthians 13
1 Corinthians is a letter written by the apostle Paul, in response to a letter he had received full of questions from this immature, divided church. Paul had also received reports of great immorality and divisions in the church in Corinth, and saw the need to correct and encourage the church.
After Paul addresses their lack of unity, lack of discipline, and lack of purity, he begins to answer some of the questions they had sent him. One of these questions was about spiritual gifts, specifically which ones were to be regarded as highest. 1 Corinthians 12-14 is His answer to that particular question.
In chapter 12 we find the great teaching on how believers are “one body, many parts”. He ends chapter 12 with “But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.”
Fast forward to chapter 14:1. Paul commands them to “pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts.” He tells them that their desire for spiritual gifts is good, but they were missing the point. They had things out of order.
Tucked between these two truths is a great teaching on this most excellent way—living a life of love.
An Eternal Perspective
Out of 13 verses, Paul spends 9 of those (vv. 1-3, 8-13) making the point that love is eternal.
God has given me a role in the body of Christ, but my giftings, positions, and influence here on earth mean nothing if not done in love.
“If I {fill-in-the-blank with all the things I find my significance in}…but have not love, I AM nothing”. 1 Corinthians 13:1-2
My actions without love are worthless. All my service to the church, my giving to the poor, my “sacrifice” of doing dirty dishes and mopping nasty floors done without love is worthless, if not done out of love.
“If I {Fill-in-the-blank with all the things I am busy doing}…but have not love I GAIN nothing.” I Corinthians 13:3
Then, in verses 8-12 Paul makes the case that only love remains. My gifts will pass away. The things I find my significance in will be gone. All I have now is imperfect, impartial, and immature.
An Evaluation
After giving a solid argument for the eternality of love, Paul gives some evaluators. Some ways to know if we are people characterized by love.
- The Essence of Love. The first test Paul gives is how to know what love is and what it is not.
Love is patient and kind…it is not arrogant or rude…it is not irritable or resentful. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5
- The Evidence of Love. The second test Paul gives is seen in what love does and does not do.
…love does not envy or boast…It does not insist on its own way…it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
A Reminder
I cannot love well on my own. Love is a fruit of the SPIRIT. In those split-second crazy moments of life, I can not make myself to love. It is only through dependance on the Holy Spirit, as He provides heart change, can I find the ability to react well, and to actively choose love.
I love this chapter :) I’ve written a 12 week ‘bible study’ on it on my blog (www.ohthatmomagain.blogspot.com). I think there is so so so much we can learn from it :) I love reading this post.
Thanks so much for this wonderful study. I am learning SO much.
Two things I got from this passage.
First, the definition of patience. Wow. I will be camping out on this for awhile.
Second, the pursuit of love first, gifts second. If I love the body of Christ, the gifts will follow. God will show me how I can love and serve the body and it will be done unselfishly since I am pursuing love first and not ‘self-fullfillment.’
You are welcome, Caroline! I am glad you are enjoying the study!
“The command here is to persevere the offenses of others, and show yourself mild.
Conversely ” This is like a light bulb going off in my head. I believe love is the language Christ intends we speak with. Not the lovey dovey language the World speaks. The the restraint and melting of our hurt and anger through Christ’s gift of death on the cross. Love that you said it is a “reactive” command. So many times Christians see “Love” as a passive thing. A, I won’t strike out thing. I won’t scream what my heart wants to say thing. But its not. Its a when someone hurts, rejects, bewilders me, I will pray blessings on them. I will be sure I know how God wants me to react to this situation. I will be sure, long before, that what my heart wants to scream, is “This person may be going down the wrong path in His Christian walk, what can I do to help him.” or “This may be a lost soul ready to depart this world into an eternity of torment with out hope with out Christ’s love, what can I do to help.” Sorry to ramble but I needed just this today to keep my heart where it needs to be when it comes to God’s word and love.
“I believe love is the language Christ intends we speak with. Not the lovey dovey language the World speaks. The restraint and melting of our hurt and anger through Christ’s gift of death on the cross.”
Yes! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Jen!
I too felt I was very famililar with these verses. They were spoken at our wedding and they have always been special to me. One of Gods commandments is to Love one another. I have learned through the years that love is not just a feeling but an action too. But through these verses it shows even more what love is.
I did something this week while reading and it made me see these verses different again.. we know God is Love (1John4:8) so I substituted God for every time the word charity or love was used. I encourate you to read this at least once this way. If we have not God we have nothing. No matter the good things we sayor the good we do, if we don’t have God in our lives, it matters not. vs 8-10 made me think that all the gifts we have, the talents we have, the possessions we own, one day these will all pass away, only that which is perfect will remain and when Jesus returns to this earth, the only thing we need is Love (God) All that we are is nothing without God. I need to remember this in the days to come and I long to show that Love to those around me.
Amy, what a fun study tool! Inserting God for love really drives home the point that we cannot love this way on our own! It is God in us who empowers us to love others!
Thanks for sharing!
Sometimes I think this chapter is harsh. If I give EVERYTHING I have to the poor, it could be counted as nothing? Yes. That shows me how much God values our heart above our actions.
More important than what I ‘do’ or what I ‘know’ is this: Am I loving? It’s more important than being strongly convicted (faith) or being fully expectant (hope).
I want to be turned into that kind of person who loves from the inside out. Definitely is a fruit of the Spirit!
That it is, ’cause it sure isn’t coming out of me naturally!
Even though it does seem harsh that our actions without love are worthless, I am so thankful that He has given us His Spirit to enable us to do this impossible thing! Makes it all about His glory, doesn’t it!?
I learned I must continuously stay prayerful in asking God to show me how to Walk in and be led by the fruit of the spirit, love.
Katie, when you wrote; “My actions without love are worthless….my “sacrifice” of doing dirty dishes and mopping nasty floors done without love is worthless, if not done out of love.”
As a homemaker, I know how mundane and thankless I feel when I do these tasks. I must remember to do all in the name of L-O-V-E. Again, thank you for this study. I am being blessed and enriched spiritually and emotionally.
I have really enjoyed this week’s passage of Scripture. It is one of my favorite. What I realized most is that I cannot “pick and chose” when I love someone. I realize that these verses describe the very character of God. As Amy said in the comments above, God is love. And from what I know about God’s character, He never stops loving me. He doesn’t pick when He’ll love me, based on what it is I do. I am undeserving of His love, yet He loves me anyway. So, applying this to my life, my choice to love my husband and my children aren’t based on their actions or their “worthiness.” It is based on a decision I make that is rooted in the Holy Spirit.
I love that you have this additional study! I love the insight and encouragement that I receive from you, as well as from those who comment! Thank you to you all!
I’m home all day with our four kids. Wether we’re working on school, housework, or playing, I know that who I am and how I respond effects the way they view God and His realness in my life. **Oh, LORD, help them see Your love in me.**
*“If I {fill-in-the-blank with all the things I find my significance in}…but have not love, I AM nothing”. 1 Corinthians 13:1-2
*“If I {Fill-in-the-blank with all the things I am busy doing}…but have not love I GAIN nothing.” I Corinthians 13:3
Writing these verses with a blank to fill in allowed me to see them differently. I may be making all the correct choices for my life and family… but do I have love?! Wow!
I really enjoyed this week, but it showed me how little I love. I like the questions presented here in the post with fill in the blank. My thought for this week was to CHOOSE love. For whatever response I had, I needed to think about love first. My preschool son causes me to rely on the Holy Spirit so often as my first response is not always love. Thank you so much for this study and the encouraging and enlightening blog posts. God is speaking to me!
Wow, great point about those words “patient” and “kind” being reactive words, Katie. Thanks for sharing that.
Though this chapter is such a popular one, I found even more truth in it this time around! I kept seeing truths about our God-given “spiritual” gifts. We all may use the spiritual gifts God gives us, but if they aren’t done through love, nothing comes from it (verses 1-3). What a powerful reminder.
This truth you shared absolutely adds to that: “Fast forward to chapter 14:1. Paul commands them to “pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts.” He tells them that their desire for spiritual gifts is good, but they were missing the point. They had things out of order.”
I’ve always loved these verses for showing the everlasting nature of God’s love.
This has been my favorite passage in the study so far. Doing everything with love behind it certainly makes more things worth doing. I love applying this in reverse as well. Although we don’t need to prove our love, showing it by our actions has an amazing effecting on people. The simple command to put love behind what we do can also make us want to take action for what we love (i.e. heart for the homeless, we can help feed them,heart for single mothers, mentor them…)