Love never fails, or ends! Paul continued his discussion about spiritual gifts, He wanted to shift the focus from the manifestation of the gifts, and return the discussion to the true gift. Love is God’s greatest gift to us and for us. Without Love, life loses all its luster and purpose. God designed people to be in relationship with him and with each other. The common theme in that design is the gift os Love. So Paul encouraged the Corinthians to see the word from the perspective of God’s chosen and not focus on tongues, prophecy leadership or one of the other spiritual gifts but to instead focus upon Love. When God’s people can focus upon him and his love, then the outpouring of the gifts are abundant. Christians use the gifts to serve God and His people. They were never supposed to be the prize, they were to be the tools to lead the world to God, the real prize.
In our lives, God has shown us that it is the same. In the midst of a chaotic culture, those who are faithful, hopeful and loving are the ones that truly experience peace and purpose. Whether or not they are doing miraculous things or simply laying their lives down for Christ and the family of God, God gets the glory and we enjoy his grace and power. We cannot fully understand God’s plan for our lives. It is so much bigger than we conceptualize. But if we trust him,(Faith), remain hopeful (Hope) and love Him (love); then he will pour out his blessings in our lives and prepare us to be a light and a guide to others. Let’s cling to the great gifts–Faith, Hope, and Love and allow him to reveal other gifts in His timing!
God Bless You
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.12 For now, we see in a mirror dimly but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Walking With God 
1 Corinthians 14 comes after chapter 13, not before. verse 1 Follow the way of love AND eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. Faith works by Love and the gifts work by Love. God is Love. He tells us to earnestly or eagerly desire (go after) the gifts of the Spirit. We won’t have the gifts without love but assuming a Christian is walking in Love, he should earnestly desire the gifts. The conclusion of Chapter 14 which gives great detail about how to operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit is not going back to Chapter 13 to negate Chapter 14 but rather these 2 verses. 39 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 40 But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way. Most denominations today do forbid speaking in tongues and the other gifts. You never see the gifts in their services and they will literally “put someone out of the church” upon hearing of them operating in the gifts. None of it works without Love, but we can’t discard Chapter 14 of Corinthians as if it weren’t there. The bible was not written in chapters, it was one long letter.
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