Memory Text:
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13, NIV).
Newspaper columnist and minister George Crane tells of a wife who came into his office full of hatred toward her husband.1 “I do not only want to get rid of him; I want to get even. Before I divorce him, I want to hurt him as much as he has me.”
Dr. Crane suggested an ingenious plan: “Go home and act as if you really love your husband. Tell him how much he means to you. Praise him for every decent trait. Go out of your way to be as kind, considerate, and generous as possible. Spare no efforts to please him, to enjoy him. Make him believe you love him. After you’ve convinced him of your undying love and that you cannot live without him, then drop the bomb. Tell him that you’re getting a divorce. That will really hurt him.”
With revenge in her eyes, she smiled and exclaimed, “Beautiful, beautiful. Will he ever be surprised!” And she did it with enthusiasm. Acting “as if.” For two months she showed love, kindness, listening, giving, reinforcing, and sharing. When she didn’t return, Crane called. “Are you ready now to go through with the divorce?”
“Divorce?” she exclaimed. “Never! I discovered I really do love him.” Her actions had changed her feelings. Motion resulted in emotion.
Love is usually seen as an emotion. It definitely has an emotional component. But it’s much more than that. In this lesson, we will discover love in its highest, truest, and purest form. Exciting study ahead!
“And Though I”
The first section of 1 Corinthians 13 is verses 1–3. It has the repeated phrase pattern of “And though I…,” which literally means “Even if I…” Paul was trying to portray that everything done apart from love lives for itself and profits no one. Paul then enumerated the things that were important to the Corinthians—eloquence, knowledge, wisdom, belief, and good deeds.
He was trying to say, “You can be the most eloquent, the most knowledgeable, the most wise, the most rigorous in keeping your beliefs and practices, and you can even do charitable deeds, but if it is not from the outflow of love, that’s all good for nothing!” We can sometimes be like the Corinthians. We pursue good things for the wrong reasons. We want knowledge to be applauded. We sometimes do charitable deeds to be seen by men. We want skills so we can climb higher up the ladder than anyone else.
One will notice that everything Paul mentioned was good. Eloquence is a good thing to have. We need more men who have immense knowledge and wisdom. We need people who are faithful. And we need more who do good works in the community.
But Paul kicks it up a notch. You can have all of that and everything good in the world, but in reality have nothing, because it is not from an outflow of love.
…the possession of all these gifts, and other additional qualities, does not make one a Christian if he does not possess the supreme gift of love.2
What Love Is and What Love Is Not
The second section is verses 4–7. It describes what love does and what it doesn’t do.
1 Corinthians 13:4–7 NLT
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud [5] or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. [6] It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. [7] Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
I once heard a preacher say: try replacing the word love in that passage with your name. How does that make you feel? Is it an accurate description of you? Is that what you do and what you don’t do? If we are honest, it is not. The only name that can fit that description is God. He is the epitome of love. He is the exemplar of what it means to live a life of love.
Looking at this passage, we shrink. We know we are far from the ideal. We know that in ourselves we cannot fit that description.
But do you want to hear some good news? That shrinking is the proper response. Only as we see our sinfulness and need of Jesus are we ready to go to Him for forgiveness and transformation.
The only Agent who can make us fit that description is the Holy Spirit. He empowers us to live a life of love. In Galatians 5, Paul wrote that love is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Galatians 5:22–23 NKJV
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Dr. Adenilton Aguiar, in his companion book to the Sabbath School lesson, noted several linguistic links that reinforce the idea that love is the work of the Spirit in our lives.3
| 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 | Galatians 5:22–23 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| “Love/agapē …” | “The fruit of the Spirit is love/agapē …” | ||
| is patient | makrothymeō | patience | makrothymia |
| is kind | chrēsteuomai | kindness | chrēstotēs |
| rejoices | synchairō | joy | chara |
| believes | pisteuō | faith | pistis |
Your role is to let the Spirit recreate God’s image of love in your life. Will you let Him?
Love Is Here to Stay
Paul caps off this beautiful chapter on love by showing that all things will fade, but love will always be here to stay. Throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity, the heartbeat pulsing through the universe is love.
The final section is verses 8–13. It describes prophecies coming to an end because they will have their glorious fulfillment,4 the interpretation of tongues ceasing because we will understand each other up in the heavenly courts, and our partial knowledge here being replaced by greater insight up there. Paul is saying that spiritual gifts will no longer be necessary once their purpose has been fulfilled. He then said:
1 Corinthians 13:13 NKJV
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Faith will no longer be faith when we see God face to face.
Hope will no longer be hope when we have its fulfillment.
But love will always be here to stay.
Conclusion
Love is the lifeblood of the Christian. It should be coursing through our veins. All that we do and all that we do not do should be because of love. Only through the Holy Spirit is this possible. May love be the anthem of our song from now on and throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity!
Discussion Questions
1. Have you ever done something good for the wrong reason? What was your real motivation?
2. Which description of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 is hardest for you to live out right now? Why?
3. If love is the one thing that lasts forever, what should you start doing differently today?
Notes
- J. Allan Petersen, quoted in “Love,” SermonIllustrations.com, accessed August 14, 2026, https://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/l/love.htm. ↩︎
- Francis D. Nichol, ed., The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 6 (Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1980), 778. ↩︎
- Table adapted from Adenilton Aguiar, First and Second Corinthians: The Essence of Christian Life and Witness (Pacific Press, 2026), 75. ↩︎
- The phrase “they will fail” in 1 Corinthians 13:8 means that prophecies will eventually come to an end once their purpose has been fulfilled. The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary explains: “Fail. Gr. katargeō, ‘to render null,’ ‘to bring to an end,’ here used in the passive form, ‘to be brought to an end.'” Nichol, Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, 6:783. ↩︎
Paul’s letters to the Corinthians are a powerful study of Christian life and witness. As we look at the message of the Cross, the power of the resurrection, and the grace that forms God’s people in love and fellowship, may our lives be drawn closer to Christ and His mission.