A MUCH BETTER WAY
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Opening Prayer
Holy Spirit, work in and through me today; use me to relate to others in ways that show them my love for Jesus and the grace and mercy he offers.
Read 1 CORINTHIANS 12:31b–13:13
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Love Is Indispensable
And yet I will show you the most excellent way.
13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 13:1 Or languages
- 1 Corinthians 13:3 Some manuscripts body to the flames
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘Come down, O Love divine, / Seek thou this soul of mine / and visit it with thine own ardor glowing; / O Comforter draw near.’*This uplifting passage is quite testing for all Christians and churches. Are you a loving person, or irritable? When people cross you, are you loving or rude? Can you wait patiently? Do you show kindness? Do you appreciate truth rather than ‘spin’? Do you resent another’s success? At church, are you quietly conceited or do you love others? Are you eager to support others and believe the best about them? Will you persevere to the end for others, as Paul and Jesus did? Verses 4–7 are justly famous. One inner-city youth lead- er, who was greatly used by God, and had known much hardship in his life, found these verses difficult to read. ‘It cuts me up,’ he said.
Love, says Paul, is indispensable. Our achievements may be impres- sive, but without love, we are nothing (vv. 1–3). How much better (12:31b) that we apply love when we meet tensions in a church; for example, as in Corinth, over people’s different gifts in a church, or some people’s sensitive consciences. Putting others before self is a much better way.
One day, everything will be made clear, and we shall see things in perspective (vv. 8–13). Many things will pass away. Even diamonds are not forever. But love is.
Apply
How important is kindness to you? How central is it to the gospel? What part should it play in our church worship and day-to-day living?
Closing prayer
Forgive me, Jesus, for those times when I have not chosen ‘the most excellent way,’ when I have not loved others as I should. Please continue to transform me in ways that enable me to love with your love.
*‘Come down, O Love Divine’, Bianco da Siena, tr RF Littledale (1867).
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