If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 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 have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

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. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 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 childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor 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. (1 Corinthians 13:1-12)

Just as 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 is not mainly talking about biology but spiritual gifts, although what the passage says about biology is true, 1 Corinthians 13 is not mainly about love, since Paul is still talking about spiritual gifts, although what he says about love is true and could be applied beyond the present context. Nevertheless, if love itself becomes the main or even the exclusive focus, then we will miss what the apostle says about both love and spiritual gifts. He does not refer to a love that is without the gifts, since he is talking about love in the context of the right use of the gifts.

Thus it could be misleading to call this “The Love Chapter,” since it is more like “Concerning Spiritual Gifts, Section 3.” The custom of giving love the main or the exclusive focus when reading the passage has encouraged the false notion that love is an alternative to spiritual gifts, and a superior alternative at that. This misses Paul’s point. He precedes this passage by saying, “But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.” He does not mean that love is more excellent than the gifts, or that love itself is a greater gift, for in this context love is not a spiritual gift at all. He immediately follows the section with, “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.” Even after he has introduced this “most excellent way,” he does not say follow love instead of desiring spiritual gifts, but follow love and desire the gifts.

The context is desire for the spiritual gifts, or the proper motive for their operation. Thus the “most excellent way” does not refer to a superior gift or something that is superior to the gifts, but rather a superior motive than mere desire for the gifts. Love is the most excellent way to guide a person’s thinking about the gifts, about which ones he desires, and about how he should use them. Instead of thinking about which gifts would best exalt his pride or advance his status, now he is thinking about which gifts would most benefit the church, which gifts would most help other Christians in their faith, and which gifts would best impress unbelievers about the greatness of God. In many situations, prophecy is a gift that seems to benefit the most people at the same time in the most important way, since “everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort.” Thus, “eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.”

Verses 1-3 do not devalue the spiritual gifts, but they devalue the person who uses them without love. The verses are often presented as if Paul thinks that the gifts are ineffective apart from love. This again misses the point. If Paul speaks in tongues without love, he may be just a clanging cymbal, but he still speaks in the tongues of men and angels. He never says he could not do it without love. If he prophesies without love, he says, then “I am nothing” – the person is nothing. But still he can “fathom all mysteries and all knowledge” – the gift is never nothing. If he has the gift of faith without love, then again, “I am nothing,” but the mountain is still moved. If he offers all he has to the poor without love, then he says, “I gain nothing,” but the poor still receives.

Verses 4-7 must be first applied to the use of spiritual gifts. Paul writes, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,” and so on. This targets the selfish and divisive manner in which the gifts could be used. If a person is filled with pride because of his gift and looks down on other people, then he is nothing. Instead of admiring him as he wishes, he should be considered a nobody. And if a person aspires to a more prominent place in the church not so that he may strengthen the congregation and help more people, but because he wishes to receive attention and applause, then he is nothing, although he is not necessarily ineffective at what he does.

Although love is presented as the most excellent foundation for the spiritual gifts and not an alternative to them, it will indeed outlast them all. Prophecy, tongues, miracles, healing, and so on, will cease. Prophecy is said to be imperfect, not because the gift itself is defective, but it offers incomplete knowledge. So “when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.” Paul does not leave the time of “perfection” in doubt. He writes, “Now we see but a poor 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.” When perfection comes, there will be “face to face” knowledge. When perfection comes, we will know fully, even as we are fully known. This is not a potential knowledge, as in knowledge revealed but not completely assimilated, but an actual knowledge, so that we will know as we are fully known. When this happens, the gifts will cease, and we shall not miss them, for we will lack nothing.