Bible, Holidays

Deep & Wide: 1 Corinthians 13

L.S. Childe

Paul had a complicated relationship with the people of Corinth. Acts 18 recounts his establishment of the church there amidst considerable opposition from outside forces, and Paul stayed with them for about a year and a half in solidarity and support. However, Paul’s later correspondence with the church reveals increasing levels of conflict from within, specifically regarding what behaviors were consistent with life in Christ. Paul wrote 1 Corinthians specifically in response to reports about the church from Chloe’s household (1:11) and to a letter the church had recently written to him (7:1) offering contentious disagreement over what it meant to be spiritual/a person of Spirit.1 

Spiritual life and gifts were high priorities for this church, unfortunately to a fault; they had missed the motive of spirituality, instead making the gifts the goal in and of themselves. That is why Paul’s thoughts in this passage, now famously known to us as “The Love Chapter,” are sandwiched between two lengthy expositions about the spiritual gifts. Paul emphasized the purpose of the gifts—which is always love—over and above gifts for their own sake.2 He wanted Christians to understand that giftedness, no matter how impressive, and possession of the charismata are not themselves evidence of power or maturity in Spirit; godly love is.3

The word Paul used exclusively for love in this passage is agape (literally meaning affection, good will, love, benevolence, familial love4), which comes from the verb form agapaō (to welcome, entertain, be fond of, love dearly, be well pleased, and be contented with5). Strictly speaking, agape can’t be defined exclusively as “God’s love” because scripture also describes people as agapaō-ing sin and the world (John 3:19, 1 John 2:15), but it can be defined as a sacrificial, giving, absorbing kind of love. We read in this chapter that Paul was encouraging a love like Jesus’s which gives of self for the greater good of others,6 then describing at length what that love should look like.

1 Corinthians 13 is a perennially popular scripture for Valentine’s Day and wedding ceremonies, but its focus moves far beyond romantic implications; it’s all about spiritual maturity and witness. Keeping the above context in mind, we can break down what we are really saying when we recite Paul’s words today as (paraphrase mine):

  • Verses 1-3 — No matter how many spiritual gifts we manifest, nor spiritual-seeming acts we perform, it is all meaningless in the spiritual realm without love as the fuel and the outcome.
  • Verse 4 — Two visible behaviors we can expect from ourselves when we are truly acting out of love are: being patient (persevering patiently and bravely in enduring troubles and/or being slow to anger, punish, or avenge7) and being kind (showing ourselves to be mild, being kind, using kindness8). It is highly significant that these are verbs/action words, not mere ideals or intents.
  • Verses 4-6 —Eight things we will not NOT do if we are truly acting from love: envy, brag, elevate or puff ourselves up, behave inappropriately, seek personal gain, burn with anger or scorn, keep a ledger of troublesome or destructive things, and rejoice, salute, or thrive9 in injustice or unrighteousness.10
  • Verses 6-7 — Five more things we will do: share joy with others11 in all truth,12 cover/protect13 everyone and everything,14 give credit to/have confidence in15 everyone and everything, have hope for16 everyone and everything, and remain and endure with17 everyone and everything.
  • Verses 8-12—Love will never not be needed or go away as a force of life. The spiritual gifts will pass away, because they have been given to cover the existing gap between the temporal and the eternal; the need for them will expire when perfect eternal life is restored. Not so with love. Love will always be the tie that connects us with God and each other, in this life and for all eternity.
  • Verse 13—Of the three great virtues, faith and hope are also gap-covers, and they will expire when we can finally see all things perfectly. Love supersedes all other gifts and pursuits, because it is the only one which lasts forever.

Love indeed is the greatest.

Footnotes

  1. Fee, G. and Stuart, D. (2014). How to Read the Bible Book by Book: A Guided Tour. p. 325. Zondervan ↩︎
  2. Guzik, David. n.d. “Study Guide for 1 Corinthians 13.” Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/1-corinthians/1-corinthians-13.cfm?a=1075001. ↩︎
  3. Fee, Gordon D. “The First Epistle to the Corinthians” (The New International Commentary on the New Testament) (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1987) ↩︎
  4. “G26 – Agapē – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (Nasb20).” n.d. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g26/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/. ↩︎
  5. “G25 – Agapaō – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (Nasb20).” n.d. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g25/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/. ↩︎
  6. Guzik, David. n.d. “Study Guide for 1 Corinthians 13.” ↩︎
  7. “G3114 – Makrothymeō – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (Nasb20).” n.d. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3114/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/. ↩︎
  8. “G5541 – Chrēsteuomai – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (Nasb20).” n.d. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5541/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/. ↩︎
  9. “G5463 – Chairō – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (Nasb20).” n.d. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5463/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/. ↩︎
  10. “G93 – Adikia – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (Nasb20).” n.d. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g93/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/. ↩︎
  11. “G4796 – Sygchairō – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (Nasb20).” n.d. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4796/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/. ↩︎
  12. “G225 – Alētheia – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (Nasb20).” n.d. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g225/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/. ↩︎
  13. “G4722 – Stegō – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (Nasb20).” n.d. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4722/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/. ↩︎
  14. “G3956 – Pas – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (Nasb20).” n.d. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3956/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/. ↩︎
  15. “G4100 – Pisteuō – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (Nasb20).” n.d. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4100/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/. ↩︎
  16. “G1679 – Elpizō – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (Nasb20).” n.d. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1679/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/.
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  17. “G5278 – Hypomenō – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (Nasb20).” n.d. Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5278/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/.
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Published by L.S. Childe

writer, church lady, fangirl, mom

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