Follow the Way of Love – 1 Corinthians 12:28-14:1
12 (28) Now in the church God has first appointed those who are apostles; second, those who are prophets; third, those who are teachers; then those who perform miracles; then those with gifts of healing, those with gifts for helping others, those with the gift of leadership, those with the gift of speaking different languages. (29) Not all are apostles. Not all are prophets. Not all are teachers. Not all can work miracles. (30) Not all have gifts of healing. Not everyone can speak different languages. Not everyone can interpret different languages. (31) But earnestly desire the greater gifts.
And now I will show you a way of life that surpasses all else. 13 If I speak in the languages of men and of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. (2) If I have the gift of prophecy and understand every mystery and have all knowledge, and if I have enough faith to remove mountains, but if I do not have love, I am nothing. (3) If I give away all my possessions, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it is no benefit to me.
(4) Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not arrogant. (5) It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it does not keep a record of wrongs. (6) It does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. (7) It forgives all things, it believes all things, it hopes all things, it endures all things.
(8) Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will pass away. If there are different languages, they will cease. If there is knowledge, it will pass away—(9) for at present our knowledge is partial and our prophesying is only a partial communication of future things. (10) But when the perfect has come, the partial shall pass away. (11) When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; but when I became a man, I set aside the ways of childhood. (12) At present we see an obscure image in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. At present I know things partially; but then I will know fully, just as I am fully known. (13) Now then, these three things will continue forever: faith, hope, love—and the greatest of them is love. 14 Follow the way of love.
Now proceed to the next section of this study, entitled, Exploring the Passage.
