1 Corinthians 13
13
1You see, we can have power from God, but if we don’t love people, we are nothing. Suppose we talk in the languages of other people and even talk in the languages of angels, but if we don’t love people, all of that is useless. We will only be making a noise, like somebody banging a drum or hitting a bell. 2Suppose we tell people God’s messages, and suppose we know God’s secrets and understand all about everything, and suppose we trust God so strongly that we can get him to move mountains, but if we don’t love other people, we are nothing.#Matthew 17:20; 21:21; Mark 11:23 3Suppose we give everything that we have to poor people, and suppose we stay strong for Jesus, even if somebody burns our bodies so that we die, but if we don’t love people, all of that is useless.
4If we love people, we will be good to them, and we will not get angry with people that give us trouble. If we love people, we will not be jealous of them. If we love people, we will not reckon we are better than they are, and we will not think we are really good when we are not good. 5If we love people, we will not be rude to them or shame them. If we love people, we will think about what they want, not just what we want for ourselves. If we love people, we will not get angry with them quickly, and we will not keep on remembering the bad things they did to us. 6If we love people, we will not be happy if they do things that are wrong, but we will be happy if they do things that are right and true. 7If we love people properly, we will keep on loving them, no matter what happens. If we love people, we will keep on believing good things about them, and we will keep on hoping good things for them, and even if we are getting trouble, we will not give up.
8You know, I talked to you already about the special power that God gives to his people, and now I’m telling you that one day we will stop using that special power. But we can’t stop loving people. If you love somebody properly, you will always love them. But the time will come when God will not need to give us special power any more. When that time comes, God will not tell people his special messages, and God will not get people to talk in special languages, and God will not let people know special things.
9You see, now we only know a little bit, and the special messages that we get from God only tell us a little bit. 10Right now we only have a little bit of what God wants to give to us. But the time will come when he will let us understand everything properly. Then we will not worry about the little bits any more.
11I’ll use a picture story about myself to show you what I mean. When I was a little kid I talked like a little kid, and I thought about things the way a little kid thinks about things. I only understood what a little kid can understand. But then I grew up, and now I’m a man, and I’ve stopped thinking like a little kid. 12This is what that story means. Now we only understand a little bit. It is like we are looking at things in a dark mirror now. But the time will come when everything will be clear to us, like we are looking straight at them, not in a mirror. Right now we only know a little bit, but at that time we will know everything properly, just like God knows us properly.
13So I’m saying there are 3 important things for us to keep on doing.
– We have to keep on believing in God.
– We have to keep on knowing for sure that God will be good to us.
– We have to keep on loving God and people.
We have to keep on doing those 3 things, and the most important one is this,
– We have to keep on loving God and people.
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1 Corinthians 13
13
The Excellence of Love
1If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not #I.e. a profound thoughtfulness and unselfish concern for other believers regardless of their circumstances or station in life.love [for others growing out of God’s love for me], then I have become only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal [just an annoying distraction]. 2And if I have the gift of prophecy [and speak a new message from God to the people], and understand all mysteries, and [possess] all knowledge; and if I have all [sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love [reaching out to others], I am nothing. 3If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body #Early mss read so that I may boast, i.e. as a martyr.to be burned, but do not have love, it does me no good at all.
4Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant. 5It is not rude; it is not self-seeking, it is not provoked [nor overly sensitive and easily angered]; it does not take into account a wrong endured. 6It does not rejoice at injustice, but rejoices with the truth [when right and truth prevail]. 7Love bears all things [regardless of what comes], believes all things [looking for the best in each one], hopes all things [remaining steadfast during difficult times], endures all things [without weakening].
8Love never fails [it never fades nor ends]. But as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for the gift of special knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part, and we prophesy in part [for our knowledge is fragmentary and incomplete]. 10But when that which is complete and perfect comes, that which is incomplete and partial will pass away. 11When 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 did away with childish things. 12For now [in this time of imperfection] we see in a mirror dimly [a blurred reflection, a riddle, an enigma], but then [when the time of perfection comes we will see reality] face to face. Now I know in part [just in fragments], but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known [by God]. 13And now there remain: faith [abiding trust in God and His promises], hope [confident expectation of eternal salvation], love [unselfish love for others growing out of God’s love for me], these three [the choicest graces]; but the greatest of these is love.
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