1 Corinthians 13 Love
“And now I will show you the most excellent way.”
Chap. 12 vs. 31 – But eagerly desire (be zealously concerned for) the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.
In Chapter 12 Paul gave evidence of the Corinthians’ lack of love in the utilization of spiritual gifts; Chapter 13 defines real love; and chapter 14 shows how love works. Love is more important than all the spiritual gifts exercised in the church body. Great faith, acts of dedication or sacrifice, and miracle-working power produce very little without love.
Chapter 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.
Moving mountains was a recognized metaphor:
Matthew 17:20 20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.
Matthew 21:21 21 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship (or over to be burned) that I may boast, (voluntary martyrdom) but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Matthew 6:2 2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
Daniel 3:28 28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
4 Love is patient (waits patiently), love is kind. It does not (burn with) envy, it does not boast, it is not proud (not inflated with it’s own importance). This is what Paul finds so disturbing and so un-Christ-like among the Christians in Corinth. They like to parade their “gifts” and “spirituality”. This contaminates love.
1Thessalonians 5:14 14 And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking (or preoccupied with the interests of the self), it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Do you sometimes seek to identify a grand total of your supposed “hurt” or injury?
1Corinthians 10:24 24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth (or joyfully celebrates truth). 7 It always protects (or never tires of support), always trusts, always hopes (never exhausts hope), always perseveres (never gives up).
2Thessalonians 2:12 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
2John 1:4 4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.
8 Love never fails (never ends). But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away (or become obsolete). 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.
Remember, in chapter 8 verse 1, Paul contrasts; “Knowledge inflates (oh, I know it all!)…but; love builds.” God gives us spiritual gifts for our lives on earth in order to build up, to serve, and to strengthen fellow Christians. The spiritual gifts are for the Church. In eternity, we will be made perfect and complete in the very presence of God. We will no longer need the spiritual gifts.
Philippians 3:12 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
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.
Here Paul offers a glimpse into the future to give us hope that one day we will be complete when we see God face to face.
Genesis 32:30 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel,[a] saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
1Corinthians 8:3 3 But the man who loves God is known by God.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
The Life Application Bible puts it: Faith is the foundation and content of God’s message; hope is the attitude and focus; love is the action. We have these three now, but when see God face to face, we will no longer need faith and hope.
In morally corrupt California (oops); Corinth love had become a mixed-up term with little meaning. Today people are still confused about love. Amen?! Love is the greatest of all human qualities, and it is an attribute of God (1 John 4:8; 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.). Love involves unselfish service to others; to show it gives evidence that you care.
1 Corinthians 13 THE MESSAGE
The Way of Love
1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
One commentary explained; “The whole combined metaphor depicts a tongues speaker who may have little love for others as producing self-important, sonorous, intrusive decibels, which amount to little more than that. In the English Country of Yorkshire, people often dismiss someone who is “all noise” as “Now’t but rattle.”
2If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. 3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.
Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.
8-10Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
11When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
12We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
13But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
German theologian, Nygren states that the word; agape’, denotes a love that is spontaneous, unmotivated, creative, and free. Christians are not to love only those whom they find attractive, or who share their values, social status, or theology. What motivates Christian love is a prior experience of the love of Christ, not a reciprocal return to those who are kind to us.
True love never gloats at someone’s failure, nor thrills at the thought of being able to lecture someone on his or her shortcomings. Love never relishes the opportunity to say, “I told you so.”
TABLE TALK
1. “Spirituality” in Corinth, the whole epistle suggests, was regarded less as Christ-like holiness involving transformation of life than as receiving toylike gifts that provided status or pleasure in the playroom. How has that changed today? Has it?!
In what ways can Christians be “childish” in their faith? On the other hand, need “maturity” bring lack of excitement, apathy, or world-weary, “seen it all” cynicism? How can we retain the zest of youth with the wisdom of age?
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