Creator, Father, King #280

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

LET’S PLAY A GAME.

It’s called “Pick the Struggles of the First-Century Corinthian Church.” Which sins and struggles do you think the apostle Paul confronted this immature group of believers about in his letter known as 1 Corinthians?

1. jealousy and strife
2. arguing about which Christian leader to follow
3. sexual immorality
4. arrogance
5. filing lawsuits against each other
6. causing weaker Christians to stumble in their faith
7. dishonoring the Lord’s Supper
8. misunderstanding and misusing spiritual gifts
9. misunderstanding believers’ future resurrection
10. all of the above

If you guessed choice number ten, you’re correct! They struggled with all of them. Phew! That church needed a lot of help.

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul addressed number eight—how the church was struggling in the area of spiritual gifts.

What’s It Mean?

Often called “the love chapter,” 1 Corinthians 13 is frequently used for weddings, anniversaries, Valentine’s Day cards, etc., because of Paul’s beautiful description of true biblical love. But Paul didn’t write 1 Corinthians 13 to describe romantic love. He wrote it to explain what love looks like as Christians exercise their spiritual gifts to edify the body of Christ.

Paul illustrates it vividly in 1 Corinthians 13:1: “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.” To put it another way . . .

• Christians using their spiritual gifts with love = a performance of the London Symphony Orchestra.
• Christians using their spiritual gifts without love = a roomful of fussy, hungry toddlers with hand cymbals.

Nobody—and we mean nobody—wants choice number two!

Yesterday, we discussed spiritual gifts. If you’re a Christian, God has empowered you with certain abilities to build his Kingdom. But you could be the most talented person in the world, and if you don’t exercise your spiritual gifts in a loving way, it’s worthless. That’s the point of 1 Corinthians 13.

“God is love” (1 John 4:8). Therefore, it’s imperative for us to live in a way that reflects God’s character and accords with the biblical love described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

Even the greatest spiritual gifts will eventually fade away. But as today’s verse says, godly love will remain forever!

Now What?

The next time you hear portions of 1 Corinthians 13 being used in a romantic way, remember the proper context of this chapter.

Did You Know?

Jesus said, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John 13:35).