1 Corinthians 13: 1-13 (NRSV)
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Chapter 13If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. Verse 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. Verse 3If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Verse 4Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant Verse 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; Verse 6it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. Verse 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Verse 8Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. Verse 9For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; Verse 10but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. Verse 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. Verse 12For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. Verse 13And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
Devotion
While writing to the quarrelsome congregation at Corinth, Paul composed one of the most cherished chapters in the New Testament. This chapter is sometimes referred to as “the hymn of love.” In the centuries that have followed there has been no shortage of love songs, but few have been as profound and cherished as Paul’s words.
Love songs remain popular. We just keep on believing in love. Love does deserve its reputation, and Paul tells us why.
The apostle assures us that love is a gift of God. Love always comes from God and we are channels for that love. The more we give away, the more we receive. More than this, love alone is eternal. “Faith, hope and love abide,” Paul tells the Corinthians. In the Kingdom of Christ, only love will remain. Love never ends because only love can bridge this world and the world to come.
Prayer
When we hear what true love is as described in I Corinthians 13, we are overwhelmed by our failure to love with that kind of love. May your pure love fill our hearts. Amen.