1st Corinthians 13 Collab

Hey guys! A while back, Kaley and I decided to do a collab on our thoughts on 1st Corinthians 13. We, uh, forgot about it until recently, but we hope that you enjoy! You can read the chapter here. My thoughts are in bold and Kaley’s aren’t. 🙂

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If you look at the context of this chapter, it is right between chapters speaking on spiritual gifts. I believe that love plays into spiritual gifts. The reason FOR spiritual gifts isn’t to show off how holy we are or anything like that. It is to help share God’s AMAZING love with the lost world.

Speaking in tongues, having the gift of prophecy and knowledge is just meaningless noise if we don’t love the people that we are ministering to. Even if we give up everything we have (including our life) but do it apart from love, it is nothing at all. Love makes things valuable and meaningful. Love should be the heart of all we do. Which is really hard because we naturally want to do what will benefit us, and not others.

The Greek has several words for love, whereas English only has one. The Greek word that is used here is agape. Agape love is….really, really hard for humans to do. It is the highest form of love. Unconditional. Not self serving. It is all about the receiver, not the giver. God loves us with this type of love. Nothing we can do can change that. No sin or anger or emotions can change God’s love for us. He CHOSE to love us in that way, while we were still dead in our sins. That type of love isn’t something that we can earn and it isn’t something that we can lose. God didn’t choose to love us that way based on anything that we did. He chose to do it because, well, he loves us!

Amen!! Love is all that matters! Everything is of no worth unless it has love. And you know why? Because love is God.This means that we need God in His loving aspect, that our lives would be filled with worth. Witness Lee once said that everything on Earth is vanity, worthless. Good things are only shadows of Christ as what we need: A bike can demonstrate how God supports us even when we struggle for Him. Glasses are shadows of Christ as our sight. A chair shows Christ as our real rest. This is what matters. Christ. And Christ has love that surpasses all human love. We can’t even imagine how much He loves us. If our parents love us to the moon and back, how much does God love us? His love not only doesn’t care about our past, but also doesn’t taunt us saying, “I know everything you don’t and I won’t help you!” Instead, He leads us. The passage is rich. XD

Ah man, yes, it is such a rich passage!In verses four to eight, this is a list of what true love is and is not. It is patient (slow to repay offences) and kind (not easily frustrated and gentle in responding to those who hurt us). It does NOT envy (doesn’t want something that other have), boast (bragging without foundation), is not arrogant (I-know-everything-you-can’t-teach-me-anything type of attitude), rude (disregard for others), self-seeking (selfish and doesn’t put others before self), easily angered, resentful (doesn’t keep record of wrongs and forgives). Love doesn’t rejoice in evil but in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, endures all things (love doesn’t go away orleave. It keeps seeking us out despite all of our failings).

Amen!!!! Love is so amazing… and it never fails!! How amazing! Prophecies pass away, tongues will be stilled, and knowledge will cease, but love never fails!!! I enjoyed that completeness is coming! I now see in part, but I will know fully, even as I am fully known!!! How amazing!!! 

Love must be a part of everything that we do. Prophecies and tongues and knowledge will pass away, but the love of God will NEVER fade or disappear. Faith and hope will be fulfilled when we are with God in eternity. But love? It will go on forever. We will love God and he will love us. 

~Hattush and Kaley

What are your thoughts on 1st Corinthians 13? We’d love to hear them!