Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:1–13
13 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (NIV)
Observation:
After addressing the People of Corinth, Paul describes what the greatest Spiritual Gift is, that should temper and grow every other Spiritual Gift. Paul writes: “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:6-8b)
Application:
The people of Corinth were boasting about their Spiritual gifts, considering their own as more valuable than the gifts possessed by others. Paul writes 1 Corinthians 13 to emphasize that all actions performed with Spiritual gifts must be guided by love for God and for the entirety of the Body of Christ. While every gift is essential for the edification of the body, it is most important that each gift be exercised with love, as love never fails.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, grant us the grace to utilize the spiritual gifts bestowed upon us by the Spirit with the love of God and love for our neighbors. Help us to remain humble, not thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought, for without You, we are nothing. You displayed Your love by offering Your life as a ransom for our sins. May we always remember Your sacrifice and Your love by loving sacrificially, for Your glory. Amen.