Consider these questions as you dwell in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13:

1. How does Paul emphasize the surpassing importance of love in 1 Corinthians 13, and what contrast does he draw between possessing spiritual gifts and lacking love?

2. What specific attributes of love does Paul highlight in this passage, and how do they counteract behaviors like envy, boasting, arrogance, and rudeness that were potentially present in the Corinthian church?

3. Paul asserts that faith, hope, and love abide, but he ultimately elevates love as the greatest among them. How does this perspective reshape our understanding of Christian virtues, and how can we actively cultivate and demonstrate love in our interactions with others?

Transcript:

 As I said, this passage is very well known, so much so, I come to it and I wonder what to say. It's very clear. We've heard it before.  Sometimes just stopping and meditating on what the text says, when we know it and we can let it ruminate within us. is a really good thing to do, but then the video is too short or I just have to stand here and stare at the camera, so I am actually going to make some comments.

You know, this passage talks about these things that love is greater than, and it's all these things from the previous chapter. It's so important that we understand that, you know, Paul talks about if I speak in tongues. Um, or if I have prophetic powers, understand all mysteries, if I can do all that, then, but not, but I don't love, then, then what's the point?

And that's really what we see here as chapter 12, verse 31 ended, what did it say? And I will show you still a more excellent way. He's saying, Hey, you can have all these things that you desire and all these things that you're claiming to have and, and all these things that you are doing.  But if you don't love one another, what's the point?

And so, love is the more excellent way. And so, Paul talks about these things. If I have all of it, if I have all this stuff, but if I, we don't love one another, then then what difference does it make? I am nothing. And notice the contrast that he uses here, right? I have everything, but if I don't have love, then I have nothing, right?

He's going between these two poles of having it all and having nothing. And that's what we are supposed to see here, that, that, that no matter how high we think the highs are, if we don't have love, we are at the low. And so, Paul comes to verse four and he says, love is patient, he's, and it's kind. He's telling us what love looks like.

Doesn't envy or boast. Well, what does it seem maybe some of the problems in the Corinthian church are?  Envy.  Okay Arrogance may be being rude, you know, he's saying, you know, love is patient and kind it doesn't do these things It doesn't insist on its own way. So Corinthian Church, perhaps you shouldn't insist on your own way instead, you should consider the most important thing to be loving one another.

It says it doesn't rejoice at wrongdoing So it's not celebrating sin. But what happens it rejoices in the truth and so, love bears all things, believes all things, hope all things, and endures all things. Love is going to last. Love is going to last. Paul wants us to understand that in fact, the beginning of verse 8, love never ends.

And he says that some of these other stuff, all these, some of these other things are going to pass away.  And then he gets to this idea that when he was a child, he behaved a certain way, but he matured. He reasoned like a child. Um, he. He was a man, he gave up childish ways when he became a man.  And so now, he wants people to understand that when we love one another, that is what we are to be doing to reflect the love of God.

Because God has first loved us, right? Now this doesn't mean that we don't take concern with other types of things. You know, Paul has talked about some sinful issues, right? In the church here. And he's not saying, Oh, that doesn't matter. Just love one another. What he's saying is we can't be loving one another.

 And then at the same time, you know, being envious, boasting, being arrogant, being rude, we don't want to do those things. Truth is important.  But we do not hold that above loving one another. The arrogance part of it. Obviously, we want to make sure that the things of God are stood up for. We don't let someone teach false teaching and just say, Ah, we're going to let them teach about Christ in an incorrect way because we want to love them.

That's not what is happening here. He wants people to say, Hey. We are going to make sure that we love one another. We're going to stand for the truth, but we are going to love one another because love is what lasts. Love bears all things, it believes all things, it hopes all things, it adores all things, and it never ends.

And so, Paul comes down to the end of this passage that we have today.  And he says, so now faith, hope, and love abide. These all things exist. We have faith, we have hope, and we have love. But he wants us to understand that the greatest of these things is love.  He wants us to love one another.  And so, as we think about this passage, do we stop and think about what it means to love our brothers and sisters in Christ?

Do we stop and think about how we can love? Or are we more concerned with our own things? I think in our culture it is so easy for us to be basically concerned about nothing but ourselves.  It's easy to be envious or boastful and do these kind of things. It's easy for us to be irritable and resentful.

It's easy for us to do all of these selfish things. But do we love one another? That is where our desire is to be.  And the beauty of it is  you and I have a fantastic opportunity every day to love others. We have the opportunity to care for others. We have the opportunity to step out into the world and care for the people that we come into contact with.

And so, may we remember this passage today and every day, obviously, and look for those opportunities to love people. Because as we see here, Paul says, the greatest of these is love. So, may we seek out opportunities to show this great thing that God has blessed us with.