1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. 6Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be restrained; where there is knowledge, it will be dismissed. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when the perfect comes, the partial passes away. 11When 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 set aside childish ways. 12Now we see but a dim 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. 13And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.
What’s happening. The Corinthian church was proud of its spiritual gifts, like speaking in tongues and prophecy. Paul places this chapter on love in the middle of his teaching about those gifts.
What it means. Without love, the most impressive gifts are just noise. Even great knowledge, faith that moves mountains, and giving everything away count for nothing without love. Love is not an extra. It is what gives everything else its worth.
What’s happening. Continuing the love chapter. Although it is often read at weddings, Paul wrote it to a quarrelling church.
What it means. Paul describes love by what it does: it is patient and kind, it doesn’t envy or boast, it isn’t rude or self-seeking, it keeps no record of wrongs, and it always protects, trusts, hopes and perseveres. Many readers notice it is also a portrait of Jesus.
What’s happening. The end of the love chapter. Paul has said that spiritual gifts like prophecy will one day end.
What it means. Right now we see only partly, like a dim reflection in an ancient mirror. One day we will see face to face and know fully. Faith, hope and love remain, and the greatest of these is love, because love will last forever.