1 Corinthians 13

Paul sits between two chapters about spiritual gifts and shows the way that matters more than any gift: love. Without love, the most impressive gifts and sacrifices are empty. Love has a recognizable character, it outlasts every gift, and it is the greatest of the three things that remain.

1 Corinthians 13:1

Even the most amazing speech, human or heavenly, is only noise if love is missing. A gong or cymbal makes a sound but says nothing from the heart. Gifts without love draw attention to themselves and do not build anyone up.

BSA: love (“unconditional affection, charity”): This is not a passing feeling but a self-giving love that seeks another’s good.

Greek: ἀγάπην (agapēn, G26) — “self-giving love.” Paul uses the word for love that gives itself for others’ good, the kind seen supremely in Christ’s cross, rather than a mere warm feeling.

See also: 1 Corinthians 14:1.

1 Corinthians 13:2

Paul lists great gifts: prophecy, deep understanding, and faith to move mountains. Yet without love, the person who has them all is nothing. What we are matters more to God than what we can do.

BSA: mysteries (“hidden, divine”): These are God’s secret purposes, which only he can reveal; even grasping them leaves a loveless person empty.

See also: Matthew 17:20.

1 Corinthians 13:3

Even giving away everything and offering one’s body can be done without love, perhaps from pride or a desire to be admired. Sacrifice that lacks love earns nothing before God. Love is the motive that gives giving its worth.

BSA: gain (“profit, benefit”): Such sacrifice brings no real benefit to the giver in God’s sight.

See also: Matthew 6:1-4.

1 Corinthians 13:4

Paul now describes love by what it does. It is patient with people and kind toward them. It does not resent another’s blessings, show off, or puff itself up. Love is pictured as a way of living, not just a feeling.

BSA: patient (“long-suffering, forbearing”): Love holds back its anger and stays steady with difficult people over a long time. kind (“benevolent, gracious”): Love is patient and also actively does good to others.

Greek: μακροθυμεῖ (makrothymei, G3114) — “is long-tempered, patient.” The word literally means a long fuse of the spirit. Love is slow to retaliate even when wronged.

See also: Galatians 5:22-23.

1 Corinthians 13:5

Love is gracious in manner and does not demand its own way. It is not quickly provoked and does not store up past offenses to use later. Love forgives and lets go instead of keeping a ledger.

BSA: self-seeking (“or insisting on its own way”): Love does not put its own interests first or insist on getting its way.

Greek: λογίζεται (logizetai, G3049) — “reckons, counts, enters into an account.” This is bookkeeping language. Love refuses to write down the wrongs done to it and does not keep them on the books.

See also: Ephesians 4:31-32.

1 Corinthians 13:6

Love never celebrates wrongdoing, whether our own or someone else’s. It is glad when what is true and right prevails. Love and truth belong together, and love does not hide sin.

BSA: truth (“reality, sincerity”): Love delights in what is real and honest, not in pretense or falsehood.

See also: Ephesians 4:15.

1 Corinthians 13:7

Four times Paul says all things. Love carries burdens, trusts where it can, keeps hoping, and holds on through hardship. This does not mean being gullible. It means refusing to give up on people and on God.

BSA: endures (“remains, perseveres through”): Love stays at its post through every trial and does not walk away.

Greek: στέγει (stegei, G4722) — “covers, bears up under.” The word carries the picture of a roof that shelters. Love covers others’ faults rather than exposing them.

See also: 1 Peter 4:8.

1 Corinthians 13:8

Love never fails, while the spiritual gifts are temporary. Prophecy, tongues, and knowledge serve us in this present age and will give way. Love belongs to eternity and goes with us into it.

BSA: never fails (“will not come to an end, is eternal”): Love is not a tool for this age only; it lasts forever.

Greek: πίπτει (piptei, G4098) — “falls.” Paul’s word pictures something falling to the ground. Love never collapses, while the gifts will be set aside.

1 Corinthians 13:9-10

Our present knowledge and prophecy are real but incomplete, like a few pieces of a large picture. When the perfect, or complete, comes, the partial will no longer be needed. Christians understand the timing differently, but all agree that full completeness is God’s work, not ours.

BSA: perfect (“complete, mature”): The word means whole and fully grown, the opposite of fragments.

See also: 1 John 3:2.

1 Corinthians 13:11

Paul uses a simple picture from life. A child talks and thinks like a child, but grown people leave childish ways behind. The gifts are like childhood, fitting for now, and what is coming will be far fuller.

BSA: set aside (“made useless, abandoned”): The same word as in verse 8 for gifts passing away: what once served has no further use.

Greek: κατήργηκα (katērgēka, G2673) — “I have put away, made inactive.” Paul uses the same verb found in verses 8 and 10, tying the picture of growing up to the gifts being set aside.

1 Corinthians 13:12

In Paul’s day mirrors were polished metal and gave only a blurry image. Now we see God and his purposes indistinctly. One day we shall meet him face to face and know fully, as he already fully knows us.

BSA: dim reflection (“a faint image, an enigma”): What we see now is real but riddle-like, not yet clear. fully known (“by God, in His perfect understanding”): God already knows us completely and still loves us.

Greek: αἰνίγματι (ainigmati, G135) — “in a riddle.” Our English word enigma comes from it. Now we see God as through a puzzle; then we will see plainly.

See also: 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 John 3:2.

1 Corinthians 13:13

Faith, hope, and love remain, and love is the greatest. Faith trusts God and hope waits for him, but love is God’s own nature. It is the one thing we will still practice when we see him.

BSA: remain (“at this present time”): These three continue through this present age, while the gifts pass. greatest (“most supreme”): Love ranks above even faith and hope.

See also: 1 John 4:8; Colossians 3:14.