1 Corinthians 13.8-9
“Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.”
Paul is addressing the over-emphasis the Corinthian Christians had on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. His message is that they should not emphasize our gifts at the expense of love. Indeed, love is designed by God to be the motive and method that energizes why and how the followers of Jesus exercise their spiritual gifts.
Until the return of Christ, our knowledge and prophecy and teaching are partial and incomplete. There are many aspects of God’s kingdom plan that we simply will not know or understand until Jesus returns. Until, then, we must operate in his love.
1 Corinthians 13.10-12
“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”
As we grow in our walk with Jesus, we grow in our maturity. Our thinking matures, our wisdom matures, and our speaking matures. We give up childish, immature ways of thinking and acting. However, no matter how much we grow and mature, we still see the things of the kingdom “in a mirror dimly.”
When Jesus returns, we will see him face-to-face, and all will become clear. The great promise here is that we will know fully, because the Lord will know us fully. We will be in full, perfect fellowship with our Savior and Lord.
1 Corinthians 13.13
“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
The three great pursuits of the Christian life are not miracles, power, and gifts; the great pursuits of the Christian life are faith, hope, and love. What is your life focused on? What are your spiritual priorities? It should all come back to faith, hope, and love. If it doesn’t, it is time to reorder your priorities.
Love is greatest because it will continue, even grow, in the eternal state. When we are in heaven, faith and hope will have fulfilled their purpose. We won’t need faith when we see God face to face. We won’t need to hope in the coming of Jesus once he comes. But we will always love the Lord and each other, and grow in that love through eternity.
Paul isn’t trying to make us choose between faith, hope, and love; he wants to emphasize the point to the Corinthian Christians: without love as the motive and goal, the gifts are meaningless distractions. If you lose love, you lose everything.
We must get love right.
