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1 Corinthians 13:13 - The Greatest Of These Is Love.

1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV) And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13 (NLT) Three things will last forever - faith, hope, and love - and the greatest of these is love.

CONTEXT

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul gave evidence of the Corinthians' lack of love in the utilization of spiritual gifts; 1 Corinthians 13 defines real love, and 1 Corinthians 14 shows how love works. Love is more important than all the spiritual gifts exercised in the church body - love demonstrates the ultimate purpose of human existence. God's love is the reason this world exists and why he wants to spend eternity with us. We have the wonderful opportunity to love him in return and love others because we understand how love changes everything for good. Great faith, acts of dedication or sacrifice, and miracle-working power produce very little without love. Love makes our actions and gifts useful. Although people have different gifts, everyone can have a huge amount of love. [Life Application SB 2019]

INTRODUCTION

Paul wrote that love endures forever. In morally corrupt Corinth, love had become a mixed-up term with little meaning. Today, people are still confused about love. Love is the greatest of all human qualities and is the very essence of God himself (1 John 4:8). Love involves unselfish service to others. Faith is the foundation and content of God's message; hope is the attitude and focus; love is the action. When faith and hope are in line, we are free to love completely because we understand how God loves. Does your faith fully express itself in loving others? [Life Application SB 2019]

COMMENTARY PEARL

A Heart of Love
   An Amazing Fact: A tenaciously hard-working dynamo, the heart can continue beating even when all surrounding nerves are severed. And what a beat! It thumps an average of 75 times a minute, 40 million times a year and 2.5 billion times in an average life. With each beat, the adult heart discharges about four ounces of blood This amounts to about 2,000 gallons a day or 760,000 gallons a year
   The heart is often associated with love. We eat heart-shaped candies and cakes. We buy cards with cartoon hearts on them for our loved ones. Hearts are scribbled at the bottom of love letters. Understanding the power of the heart makes it even more reasonable to connect it with true love. The heart produces enough energy in one hour to lift a 150-pound man to the top of a three-story building; in 12 hours enough to lift 65-tons one foot off the ground; and enough power in 70 years to lift the largest battleship completely out of the water.
   Perhaps the biggest heart of all is found in the blue whale. These giant mammals are not considered full-grown until 10 years of age, when its heart will be as big as a small car and its blood vessels large enough for a human baby to crawl through. If a fast-beating heart represents deep love, then the hedgehog might be a very loving creature. Its heart beats about 300 times per minute.
   When Paul explains how spiritual gifts are to function in the body of Christ, he speaks of love. In 1 Corinthians 13 we discover that without love all the gifts in the world are meaningless. Love is the very center of how Christ's church is to live and serve. Without love it is all like a clanging gong.
   Despite all the power of a human heart, it is powerless to change itself. We must receive God's love into our hearts. No matter how much blood your heart can pump, it will never be a heart that loves unless it is converted by the love of Christ. Give your heart to Jesus today. [Moving Mountains by Amazing Facts]

COMMENTARY

The great motive powers of the soul are faith, hope, and love; and it is to these that Bible study, rightly pursued, appeals. The outward beauty of the Bible, the beauty of imagery and expression, is but the setting, as it were, for its real treasure - the beauty of holiness. In its record of the men who walked with God, we may catch glimpses of His glory. In the One "altogether lovely" we behold Him, of whom all beauty of earth and heaven is but a dim reflection. "I, if I be lifted up," He said, "will draw all men unto Me." John 12:32. As the student of the Bible beholds the Redeemer, there is awakened in the soul the mysterious power of faith, adoration, and love. Upon the vision of Christ the gaze is fixed, and the beholder grows into the likeness of that which he adores. The words of the apostle Paul become the language of the soul: "I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: ... that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings." Philippians 3:8-10. ED 192

LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 - Love Is Supreme.
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2023/20231006-0917.html

1 Corinthians 13:4 - Agape Love
https://www.abible.com/devotions/1997/19970821-0000.html

LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT

https://abible.com/links/