1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NKJV
“1Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.”
But Have Not Love
The word for love here in the Greek is agapé, and it means “to
prefer,” especially with regard to preferring what God prefers. And what God
prefers is all that is holy, just, upright, morally pure, honest, faithful, and
obedient to him and to his commands. So this is love which centers in moral
preference which is not dependent on our feelings (our emotions). We love
others whether our emotions are feeling it or not. For we are to love others
even when we are mistreated, hated, betrayed, and slandered by them.
Therefore, if we have not love, it would be the opposite of
this, would it not? It would mean to not prefer what God prefers, i.e. to not
make godliness, holiness, righteousness, moral purity, honesty, faithfulness,
and obedience to God’s commands our personal preference, i.e. what we desire
most of all above all else. So that would indicate that something else was what
we preferred, instead. It would indicate that our primary desires are of the
flesh, and not of God, and that they are self-serving, in place of God.
So, what would that look like if we “have not love,” even
though we appear to be operating in the gifts of the Spirit? It would mean that
we are making all the appearance of being of God, and of being led by the
Spirit, and of being full of knowledge and giftedness, of the Spirit of God,
but we are still selfish and self-centered in nature, and we do not regard the
needs of others of value, and we do not grieve over sin and rebellion, and so
we don’t reach out to people in love to help them to become free from their
bondage to sin.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NKJV
“4Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
Love’s Character Traits
These are the characteristic traits of agape love, i.e. what
this love looks like in daily practice, in how we treat others, and in how we
relate to them. And the first mentioned here is long suffering, which is
patience and endurance, refusing to retaliate with anger when we are mistreated
by others, or when they promise and do not deliver on their promises, but do
the opposite. But patience is not tolerance and acceptance of sin. And kindness
is not lying to people to make them feel good. If we are kind, we speak the
truth in love.
And if we are not envious of others we are not jealous of
them because they have something we don’t have. We are happy for them if what
they possess is something good, and we do not resent them having it and us not
having it. And if we are not arrogant we do not think too highly of ourselves
and we are not braggarts who always try to make ourselves look better than what
we actually are. We are not show offs just wanting attention. But we do what we
do out of obedience to our Lord and out of love for our fellow humans.
We are also not those who behave in an improper manner, but
we are those who make it our practice to behave in a godly manner, in holiness
and in righteousness, and in moral purity and honesty and integrity. Our minds
are not set on what is evil and immoral and on what is contrary to the will of
God, but on what is pure and upright and righteous and obedient to God. We are
not those who rejoice when we see evil being done, but we rejoice with the truth
and with what is good and is of God, for we love and obey God.
Bears, Believes, Hopes, and Endures
Now, when this says that love “bears all things, believes
all things, hopes all things, endures all things,” we must be careful that
we interpret this in light of the teachings throughout the Scriptures. For we
are not to bear with sinful practices going on within the church. And we are
not to believe the lies which are being spread within the gatherings of the
church, either. And we are not to put our hope in things which are of the flesh
and not of God, and we are not to tolerate what is wicked, immoral, and against
our Lord.
This is just providing a concluding remark to sum up all
that was said previously. We bear up against being treated badly, and we walk
by faith in our Lord, and not by sight. We are people of hope and not of
despair who endure all kinds of mistreatments, sufferings, and persecutions for
the glory of God. We believe God’s word and what it teaches us, and our hope in
our Lord is based on truth and righteousness and not on the lies so many are
telling. For our minds are set on the Lord and on the truth of his Word.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans
8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians
5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14;
Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24;
1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation
3:1-22]
Love Never Fails
Based off 1 Corinthians 13 NIV
An Original Work /
August 20, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
If I speak with
tongues of men and angels,
But do not have
love, my speech is but noise;
It sounds like
thunder from above.
If I have the gift
of preaching,
Knowledge, faith and
prophecy,
But I do not love my
brothers, oh, what vanity!
If I give all I
possess to help a neighbor who’s in need,
But I do not love my
sisters, I gain not a thing.
Love is patient;
love is kind; it does not envy;
Is not proud. It is
not rude; not self-seeking;
Selflessly gives
out. Love does not delight in evil,
But rejoices with
the truth; Protects always;
Hopes and trusts,
and always perseveres.
Love is not easily
angered; keeps no record of the wrongs.
It forgives when
wrong’s intended; returns hate with love.
Love will never fail
when it is God’s love
Reaching out through
us, selfless in its care for others;
Yielding to the
cross. Prophecies and tongues
And knowledge,
wisdom, teaching, miracles,
Gifts of healing,
helping others – these will all be stilled.
When perfection
comes the imperfect will surely disappear.
Faith and hope and
love remain; the greatest of these, love.
It Profits Me Nothing
An Original Work / June 14, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
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