Devotional Sharing Submitted by John Lee, Gracepoint Berkeley.

What is the tragedy of possessing gifts but not having any love? The tragedy of possessing gifts without love is that it misses the whole point of what those gifts should be used for. Gifts, talents, and skill are a means and tools to communicate the love of God, not the ends nor goal. Our first and foremost example is Jesus Christ who denied his rights and power so that His love could be communicated to us. For a believer to place value on gifts without love is to embrace the values of the world and lose sight of what it means to be a follower of Christ. The apostle makes it abundantly clear that great spiritual gifts without love is worthless and might as well be like noise pollution and ultimately worthless. The world places value on talents, skills, and what one can do or accomplish. But the Lord showed us humility, patience, and sacrifice – so that His love could be communicated to us. I’m reminded of what a terrible father I would be if I measure my worth as a father based solely on how well I provide for my son yet not spend any time with him or express my love for him through all the various ways of sacrifice, patience, and affection I can show him. My boy doesn’t know the difference between a $1 and a million dollars, or that I’m the most gifted man in something, but he knows that I love him and that I show that he matters so much to me.

So this message is a rebuke and assurance for me in how I live my life and what the goals of my life must be. This is a clear rebuke for me in the sense that I can lose sight of why I seek spiritual discipline, growth, and maturity – and allow my accomplishments and contributions (or lack there of) be the sources of my security and measure of my spiritual growth. Even if God blessed me with such gifts and abilities, it would be tragic for me to take confidence in these things and not be a man of love.  This is however assurance for me in that God doesn’t evaluate me based on what gifts I have or how effective I am as a minister, but rather, that I am a loving man. The fact is, all that I am and have is a gift from God and it is so foolish to think that the gifts should be the goal of my life. However, expressions of love don’t require special talent or skills. It requires that I notice, pay attention, be sacrificial, generous, and kind. Am I humble before others, or a generous man who is sacrificial with my time and money, or a patient man who can share empathy and nurture the people in my life? I pray that I can emulate the Christ-like examples in my life and not allow the values of the world contradict the most basic aspect of being a Christ follower. Yesterday, we witnessed the baptism of 23 brothers and sisters at our Sunday service, and I’m reminded the salvation of each of those people involved many acts of love and kindness that showed the love of Christ to them. The goal of my life should be the salvation of people and what that requires is that I be a man who effectively shares the love of God that has been shown to me.

What is the end result of a life lived without love (cf. Luke 15:25-32)? The result of a life lived without love is characterized by the cold hearted older brother in the Parable of the Lost son. When the father asks him to rejoice with him at the return of the lost younger son, he describes himself as a victim who sacrificed at the side of the father so many years yet did not receive the rewards he felt was due him. The old son is such a tragic figure because he fails to understand the heart of the father nor did he understand that a son working for the father is not a slave or servant who needs to be compensated. If he had been a man serving out of love, a man who loved the father and understood the heart of the father, then he would not have seen his work as sacrifice at all. So instead of being able to share in the joys of the father, he shows that a life lived without love leads to a hardened and bitter heart who feels victimized and equates ‘sacrifice’ as a means to a reward.

The example of the older son and the warning in this passage is an apt lesson for me as I also can lose sight of what I am doing for God and allow myself to go through the motions without examining and reflecting on the condition of my heart. As a minister in a very busy church, it is easy to allow my busy schedule and full task list to replace the heart of love for God and people that needs to be my motivation. But like the older brother, I can be doing all the things that the father asks yet slowly lose sight of why I am living the life I am. Looking back at my life, I know I missed many opportunities to grow because I had been so much like the older brother – placing worth on my life on all that I was doing in ministry or what I was able to offer back to God or feeling insecure that I was not this or that. That is why it is so essential that I reflect and pray constantly and to be connected to a close web of relationships with my leaders and friends. These are the safety net that God has given me to help me tune and examine my heart constantly and not allow my actions and activities replace the heart of love for people in my life.

Devotional Questions:

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

• Why is someone who “speak[s] in the tongues of men and of angels” but who is without love like a “resounding gong or a clanging cymbal?”  Reflect on the cheapness of words not backed up by loving conduct.
• What is the tragedy of possessing gifts but not having any love?
• What kind of person would give all he possesses to the poor and even surrender his body to the flames without love?  Why does Apostle Paul say that such a person gains nothing?
• Is there some experience in my life in which I “sacrificed” without love and felt like I haven’t gained anything?
• What is the end result of a life lived without love (cf. Luke 15:25-32)?

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

• Think about the life of Jesus based on this passage.  Reflect on how he perfectly fits the description of love.
• What is the description of love according to the world?
• How does my idea of what it means to love and to be loved compare with the description of love in this passage?
• How is it possible for me to love others in this way (cf. Galatians 5:22-25)?
• In what ways have I been loved by God and his people in terms of the specific way that this passage describes love?

Additional Questions:

1 Corinthians 13:8-13

• What are the “childish ways” that I need to leave behind?
• Given Apostle Paul’s description about the “now” and “then,” why is love greater than even “faith” and “hope?”
• How does this provide the right perspective on the purpose of spiritual gifts and the question of whether or not I have certain spiritual gifts?

Commentary:

Introduction:

“More important than all the gifts is love (12:31b).  First Corinthians 13:1-3 makes the point that without love the gifts are worthless.  Verses 4-7 describe the nature of love, in language designed to point out how little the Corinthians are measuring up.  Verses 8-13 highlight the temporary nature of all gifts, contrasting with love’s permanence.”[1]

“If it is more excellent than even the greater gifts, then love itself cannot be a spiritual gift. Rather it represents the cardinal Christian virtue, the first on the list of the ‘fruit’ of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22), which must be present with all the gifts if they are to be used in ways that will please God and have eternal value. The key to understanding chapter 13, then, is to keep it in its context. Whatever inspiration it may have as a self-contained poem or hymn to love, Paul intended it to be used to help solve the specific problem of the destructive manner in which the Corinthians were using their spiritual gifts.”[2]

v.1 “tongues of men and of angels. Paul uses hyperbole.  Even if he could speak not only the various languages that human beings speak but even the languages used by angels—if he did not speak in love, it would be nothing but noise.”[3]

v.2 “All mysteries and all knowledge. Again Paul uses hyperbole to express the amount of understanding possessed.  Even if he is gifted with unlimited knowledge—if he does not possess and exercise that knowledge in love, he is nothing.

Faith that can move mountains. A special capacity to trust God to remove or overcome overwhelming threats or insurmountable obstacles.  Again Paul uses hyperbole.”[4]

v.3 “Surrender my body to the flames. A reference to suffering martyrdom through burning at the stake, as many early Christians experienced.  Even the supreme sacrifice, if not motivated by love, accomplishes nothing.”[5]

vv.4-7 “Taken together, verses 4-7 clearly portray love as selfless, seeking the good of the other first and foremost. ‘Love is what God in Christ has shown and done for “others” in their helpless plight and hapless estate as sinners.  In love we take God’s side, share his outlook and implement his designs; and we treat our neighbors as we know God has treated us (see Rom. 15:1-7).’”[6]

v.6 “Love does not delight in evil. ‘It might be better to translate this that love finds no pleasure in anything that is wrong.  It is not so much delight in doing the wrong thing that is meant, as the malicious pleasure which comes to most of us when we hear something derogatory about someone else.  It is one of the[…] traits of human nature that very often we prefer to hear of the misfortune of others rather than of their good fortune.  It is much easier to weep with them that weep than to rejoice with those who rejoice.  Christian love has none of that human malice which finds pleasure in ill reports.’”[7]

v.7 “always trusts.  ‘This characteristic has a twofold aspect. (i) In relation to God it means that love takes God at his word, and can take every promise which begins “Whosoever” and say, “That means me.” (ii) In relation to our fellow men it means that love always believes the best about other people.  It is often true that we make people what we believe them to be.  If we show that we do not trust people, we may make them untrustworthy.  If we show people that we trust them absolutely, we may make them trustworthy.’”[8]

“The other two claims of v.7—‘love believes all things; hopes all things’—tie faith and hope to love in anticipation of v.13.  It is not surprising that faith (the same Greek term for the verb ‘believe’) and hope should appear here together; they are inextricably tied in Paul’s thoughts (cf. Gal 5:5-6; 1 Thess 1:3; 5:8).  Faith, right relationship with God, is the basis on which one has hope regarding the future, because, through faith, one knows God’s redemption in the present, one can hope—that is, one can confidently look to the future in anticipation of God’s completing the work that God has begun in the present (cf. Phil 2:12b-13).

“Love’s believing all things describes neither a willing disregard for reality nor naïveté nor gullibility.  It is probably best to take this statement as a posture of openness along the lines of 2 Cor 5:7: ‘We walk through faith, not through sight.’  Certainly, to hope all things must be grounded in this confidence in God toward the future, a confidence whose basis is neither visible nor directly knowable, a theme to which Paul returns in 13:12.”[9]

vv.8-13 “Verse 8 states the thesis of verses 8-13.  Again, Paul makes the point with sample gifts that were of particular importance in Corinth.  Whereas faith, hope, and love endure, spiritual gifts prove temporary[…]

“Why will the gifts cease?  It is because they are imperfect provisions for an imperfect world, rendered unnecessary when perfection comes (vv.9-10).  But to what does ‘perfection’ refer?  The other main biblical meaning of the word (Gk. teleios) is ‘maturity’ (cf. the metaphor in v.11), but neither perfection nor consistent maturity has yet come to the church of Jesus Christ.”[10]

v.10 “God gives us spiritual gifts for our lives on earth in order to build up, serve, and strengthen fellow Christians. The spiritual gifts are for the church. In eternity, we will be made perfect and complete and will be in the very presence of God. We will no longer need the spiritual gifts, so they will come to an end.”[11]

v.12 “Paul offers a glimpse into the future to give us hope that one day we will be complete when we see God face to face. This truth should strengthen our faith—we don’t have all the answers now, but one day we will. Someday we will see Christ in person and be able to see with God’s perspective.”[12]

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[1] Craig L. Blomberg, 1 Corinthians, The NIV Application Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) 258

[2] Craig L. Blomberg, 1 Corinthians, The NIV Application Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) 261.

[3] The NIV Study Bible, Study Notes (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002) 1793.

[4] The NIV Study Bible, Study Notes (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002) 1793.

[5] The NIV Study Bible, Study Notes (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002) 1793.

[6] Craig L. Blomberg, 1 Corinthians, The NIV Application Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) 259

[7] William Barclay, 1 Corinthians, Daily Study Bible Series, Rev.ed. (Philadelphia:  Westminster Press, 1975) 122-123.

[8] William Barclay, 1 Corinthians, Daily Study Bible Series, Rev.ed. (Philadelphia:  Westminster Press, 1975) 123.

[9] Paul J. Sampley, “The First Letter to the Corinthians,” The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. X (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2002) 953-954.

[10] Craig L. Blomberg, 1 Corinthians, The NIV Application Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) 260

[11] Quest Study Bible, notes on v.10 (Grand Rapids, MI:  Zondervan Publishing House, 1994) 1585.

[12] Quest Study Bible, notes on v.12 (Grand Rapids, MI:  Zondervan Publishing House, 1994) 1585.