Scripture Reference: 1 Corinthians 12-13
Maturity: The Graces of the Spirit
Please review 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 for background to this section.
It was Jonathan Swift, the satirical author of Gulliver’s Travels, who said, “We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.” Spiritual gifts, no matter how exciting and wonderful, are useless and even destructive if they are not ministered in love. In all three of the “body” passages in Paul’s letters, there is an emphasis on love. The main evidence of maturity in the Christian life is a growing love for God and for God’s people, as well as a love for lost souls. It has well been said that love is the “circulatory system” of the body of Christ.
Few chapters in the Bible have suffered more misinterpretation and misapplication than 1 Corinthians 13. Divorced from its context, it becomes “a hymn to love” or a sentimental sermon on Christian brotherhood, oftentimes based on feelings and emotion. Many people fail to see that Paul was still dealing with the Corinthians’ problems when he wrote these words: the abuse of the gift of tongues, division in the church, envy of others’ gifts, selfishness (remember the lawsuits?), impatience with one another in the public meetings, and behavior that was disgracing the Lord.
The only way spiritual gifts can be used creatively is when Christians are motivated by love; first for the Lord, and then for one another (Matthew 22:37-39). Paul explained three characteristics of Christian love that show why it is so important in ministry.
Love is enriching (verses 1-3). Paul named five spiritual gifts: tongues, prophecy, knowledge, faith, and giving (sacrifice). He pointed out that, without love, the exercise of these gifts is nothing. Tongues apart from love is just a lot of noise! It is love that enriches the gift and that gives it value. Ministry without love cheapens both the minister and those who are touched by it; but ministry with love enriches the whole church. “Speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).
Christians are “taught by God to love one another” (1 Thessalonians 4:9). God the Father taught us to love by sending His Son (1 John 4:19), and God the Son taught us to love by giving His life and by commanding us to love each other (John 13:34-35). The Holy Spirit teaches us to love one another by pouring out God’s love in our hearts (Romans 5:5). The most important lesson in the school of faith is to love one another. Love (loving actions) enriches all that it touches.
Love is edifying (verses 4-7). “Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies [builds up]” (1 Corinthians 8:1). The purpose of spiritual gifts is the edification of the church (1 Corinthians 12:7; 14:3-5, 12, 17, 26). This means we must not think of ourselves, but of others; and this demands love.
The Corinthians were also impatient in the public meetings (1 Corinthians 14:29-32), but love would make them long-suffering. They were envying each other’s gifts, but love would remove that envy. They were “puffed up” with pride (1 Corinthians 4:6, 18-19; 5:2), but love would remove pride and self-vaunting and replace it with a desire to promote others. “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another” (Romans 12:10).
At the “love feast” and the Lord’s Table, the Corinthians were behaving in a very unseemly manner. If they had known the meaning of real love, they would have behaved themselves in a manner pleasing to the Lord. They were even suing one another! But love “does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil.” The phrase “thinks no evil” means “does not keep any record of wrongs.”
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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