And I will show you a still more excellent way.
1 Corinthians 13
Paul introduces this well-known passage with a statement ending chapter 12. These verses make up a most-beloved passage of the New Testament on Paul’s exposition of love. Paul stresses, first, love’s absolute necessity in the Christian life by writing of present things that are highly prized in themselves but, then, argues that these things are of no value if love is not present. Paul originally wrote this letter to deal with certain abuses of the gift of tongues. So, he appropriately initiates his definition of love by looking at the worth of speaking “in the tongues of men and of angels.” Some believe that Paul advocates speaking in tongues here but, Paul may just be referring to a common belief in the Corinthian church that the gift of tongues was a gift of angelic languages. The use of the phrase gets the attention of the Corinthian church members and, enables Paul to continue the list here of quite valuable loves in all things. By noting that as good as the gift of tongues may be, it is just noise if it is not exercised in love. Christianity practiced without love is not Christ-like. So, Paul means that “if I have no love I am not just useless but a positive nuisance.” In mentioning three other spiritual gifts—prophecy, knowledge or discernment, and faith, Paul writes these things are good in themselves, especially prophecy but, these benefits, without love, do not edify to the body of Christ. Even giving away everything and surrendering to martyrdom counts for nothing without love. This is an exceptionally strong statement when viewed with Jesus’ promises that those who leave everything behind to follow Him will receive a great reward. No reward will come even when we pay the highest price to serve Christ if we do not love. So, the motivation for our actions and discipleship is vital. If they are not moved by love, they count for nothing. Not because our love earns life for us but, because love is the fruit of one’s true surrender to Jesus. Do we really believe that we have nothing if we do not have love? Often we work hard at improving our skills in many different areas but pay little attention to how well we are doing at loving others. If we really believe that we are nothing without love, we should be seeking out ways to love better and repenting to God and others of our failure to love well.
Source: S C Ball November 8, 2023
Leave a Reply