Notes
If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.
When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13
We (the people who make up the Church) are here not to compete with each other, but to complement each other’s gifts. Together, we communicate who God is and work to do what is noble, good, and right to change the world. By using our gifts together in unity, we push back the powers of darkness.
God has given each of us different gifts, and all are important to His plan. It’s not the gift itself that makes you successful, but the heart you have in using it. The last verse of 1 Corinthians 13 gives us three things we need in order to use our gifts effectively and to change the world:
1) Faith
A heart filled with faith gives us the courage we need to use our gifts. Many people want to have more faith, but faith is a muscle. We can’t grow extra muscles in our bodies, but we can choose to exercise them so that they grow stronger. In the same way, we build our faith by practicing with the small things. We do this through spiritual disciplines, which are things like consistently praying and reading the Bible. This way, we are ready for when bigger things come our way.
2) Hope
A heart filled with hope gives us the motivation to never quit with our gifts. Hope believes in better things ahead despite the current circumstances. This life is not the end; in the future, things like sickness, hatred, and evil will be wiped away. We can’t even fathom what that future will be like, but when we place our hope in God’s plan, we can be content no matter what is happening in the present.
3) Love
A heart filled with love gives us the compassion to leverage our gift. God’s love is unconditional. It is a powerful tool that helps us accomplish not only our dreams, but God’s plan. To actually be the Church, not just attend church, we have to be filled with love. God loves humanity! Every person is someone He created and deeply loves. Compassionate love for others is difficult, but we as the Church are on a rescue mission to bring people to the same love of God we have already experienced. A Church that is filled with faith, hope, and love is a force that brings light into the darkness and sets captives free.
Group Questions
- Which parts of 1 Corinthians 13 stand out to you the most?
- What spiritual disciplines are the most difficult for you to practice consistently?
- Why is it important to have hope in our lives?
- What does it look like to truly love the people around us with compassion?
Prayer
Thank you for the gifts you have given us to carry out your mission. Stir up our hearts to be filled with your compassionate, unconditional love. Help us to exercise our faith so that we are ready when obstacles cross our paths.