August 14 Click on verses for Full Scripture

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Today's Pathway: I Corinthians 13:1-4 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And 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, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

Now that we have defined the words used in this passage, it's time to look at the principle that Paul is teaching. Paul writes that no matter what your spiritual gift is and no matter how flashy it may be, if you do not have sacrificial love for your fellow church members your gift has no real value. If you can miraculously speak in other languages, or even speak in the tongues of angels, if you do not have charity then what comes out of your mouth is simply noise which attracts attention, but serves no real purpose. You may be able to receive divine revelation from God, and have a miraculous ability to understand all the mysteries of God and have such great faith that you can get mountains to move, but if you don't love the brethren you are absolutely nothing. You can give away all your worldly possessions, and ultimately give up your life, but if you don't have the proper love for others then all that sacrifice brings no benefit to you. Notice the hyperbole that Paul uses here. Even if the believer can speak in multiple languages, and understands all the mysteries, and can really move mountains, and is willing to die, there is no profit to others or to himself if he does not have charity. The Corinthians thought that they were something special because of their gifts, but their lack of love revealed their gifts to be useless for themselves or others.

In verses 4-8 Paul defines what true love is. As we saw previously, it is not simply emotional or sentimental feelings for someone else. It requires certain actions and attitudes which Paul is going to enumerate here. Charles Spurgeon wrote,

"Note that agape "love" is defined by verbs rather than adjectives--by what it does, instead of what it is. Note also that love is not a feeling and as you survey Paul's description of agape love, you note that there is not stress on personal feeling. The kind of love Paul is talking about is seen and experienced and demonstrated."

In verse 4 Paul begins with two basic principles, "Charity suffereth long, and is kind". These two concepts really serve as the foundation for all the other principles that he is going to teach. The word "suffereth" is from a compound Greek word which literally means to have a "long, far off temper". William Vine wrote,

"Longsuffering is that quality of self-restraint in the face of provocation which does not hastily retaliate nor promptly punish; it is the opposite of anger and is associated with mercy, and is used of God (I Peter 3:20)".

"It means to be longsuffering, slow to anger, slow to punish, exhibiting the element of restraint, forbearing and not seeking to retaliate. It is the ability to be inconvenienced or taken advantage of by a person over and over again and yet not be upset or angry! It demonstrates a willingness to take someone’s unpleasant character traits in stride and to exhibit enduring patience. As God is forbearing with us, so we must tolerate our fellow man."

It is one thing to put up with someone, but then Paul adds that Biblical love requires us to be kind to that individual as well. Charles Hodge says of the word "kind":

"It is inclined to perform good deeds; it is good-natured. The root of the Greek verb means 'useful,' and hence its primary sense is 'disposed to be useful.' The excellence indicated here is the positive side of that already mentioned. Love is not quick to resent evil but is disposed to do good."

We will look at this passage further tomorrow. However, having seen just this one phrase in verse 4, do you have Biblical love for your fellow church members?