1 Corinthians 13 Lesson

1 Corinthians Chapter 13 is one of the most familiar and quoted chapters of the Bible.  

You will often hear scriptures from this chapter quoted at weddings because of its strong focus on love.

Take your time reading it.

Let each verse really sink in.  

WITHOUT LOVE WE HAVE NOTHING

To paraphrase the first three verses of this chapter, if we are not using our spiritual giftsin a loving way, we do not gain God’s favor.

• “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.” – 1 Corinthians 13:1-3.

SIXTEEN ATTRIBUTES OF LOVE

The Apostle Paul describes love as follows (1 Corinthians 13:4-7):

1. Love is patient,
2. Love is kind,
3. Love is not jealous,
4. Love does not brag,
5. Love is not arrogant,
6. Love does not act unbecomingly (alternate translation: “love is not rude”),
7. Love does not seek its own,
8. Love is not provoked,
9. Love does not take into account a wrong suffered,
10. Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness,
11. Love rejoices with truth,
12. Love bears all things,
13. Love believes all things,
14. Love hopes all things,
15. Love endures all things,
16. Love never fails.  

  LOVE, AND THE TWO GREATEST COMMANDMENTS

When Jesus was asked by a Pharisee what the greatest commandment in the Law was, He responded:

• “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment.  The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” – Mathew 22:37-40.

Love is the common bond between the two commandments that are most important to God.

Without love, we have nothing! God values love above all things because God IS love.

John wrote about this in his first epistle:

• “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.  By this, the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” – 1 John 4:7-11.

CONCLUSION

Love is not one of the most important things to God, it is THE most important thing!  

God is love, and without love, it is impossible to please Him. The Apostle Paul put it this way:

• “If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.” – 1 Corinthians 13:1-3.

When we are acting with love, people can tell, and they see the love of God dwelling in us.  

Conversely, if we notice ourselves being unkind, impatient, holding a grudge, etc., we need to pause and refocus ourselves on the priorities that God wants us to have.

This is true in good times and in times of adversity.  

A renewed focus on love results in personal growth.  

When we understand the importance of love and apply it to our lives, we will behave differently, as Paul wrote about in his first letter to the Corinthians:

• “When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.” - 1 Corinthians 13:11

Loving God and one another makes us mature in the Lord.  

With God’s help, we can wake up every morning determined to love others and to love God a little bit

more.  

When we do this, we will:

1. Feel better,
2. Be happier,
3. Live more fulfilling lives. 

We will end today’s lesson with the following scripture:

• “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.” - Mathew 5:16.