Let Love Motivate Your Desire for Spiritual Gifts
As our children are getting to the teenage years, my wife and I find ourselves having more and more conversations about what motivates their hearts. Pursuing good goals is often not enough.
For instance, getting good grades and excelling at sports are great goals, but it matters what motivates our hearts as we pursue those goals. If my main motivation is to boast and brag about my accomplishments or to prove that I am worthy of admiration, then I am heading the wrong direction.
The Corinthians were having that issue in relation to the gifts of the spirit. They had a fascination for the gifts, but their motivation to pursue them was wrong. Some of them were trying to show that they were better than the rest because they had a particular gift. Others got jealous and bitter about them and wanted to compete. And others were just giving up the pursuit and development of their gifts, because they thought their own gifts were nothing extraordinary.
In all those cases, they were preoccupied with themselves, motivated by selfishness, and not really seeking the good of others.
Paul addresses those issues in chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians and exhorts them:
Let love motivate your desire for spiritual gifts
Today we are going to have a close look at this chapter. Please read with me, we will start in the last verse (v.31) of chapter 12:
1 Corinthians 12:31-14:1
12:31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
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.
Let’s pray
Context
I would like to start by pointing out that Chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians is in the middle of chapters 12 and 14. Ok, that may sound obvious, but consider this, Chapters 12 and 14 talk a lot about spiritual gifts, while the clear theme of chapter 13 is love. Why is that? Why does Paul take a pause on the subject of spiritual gifts and dedicate a whole chapter to talk about love? Because the Corinthians had a fascination for the spiritual gifts, which are good, but they were pursuing them for the wrong reasons and with the wrong motives and Paul wanted to correct that.
In general, the Corinthians had issues with disunity. As early as chapter 1, we find quarreling (1:11) and divisions: “I follow Paul, I follow Apollos, I follow Cephas…” (1:12)
“There is jealousy and strife among you”, Paul tells them in 3:3. The Corinthians would try to justify their wrong behavior with logic, but Paul corrects them by telling them in 8:1 that raw “knowledge puffs up, but love builds up”. They should be seeking to edify one another motivated by love, but instead they were crushing each other led by arrogant knowledge.
The last two weeks we covered chapter 12, where Paul is concerned about the spiritual and the spiritual gifts. We heard some of the Corinthians were saying: “my gift is better than yours”, while others were lamenting that they were not as gifted. But Paul tells them: “we are all part of one body and we need one another”. It is ok to “earnestly desire the higher gifts” (12:31) and to be “eager for manifestations of the Spirit” (14:12a), but as you do that, he tells them in chapter 13, let love motivate your desire for the spiritual gifts.
And that is the message of chapter 13. It is an exhortation to the church in Corinth and to us to
Let love motivate your desire for spiritual gifts
Now, in chapter 13, Paul develops his exhortation in three parts:
- Gifts without love are nothing but a joke (13:1-3)
- Love seeks what is best for the rest (13:4-7)
- Gifts pass away but love will remain (13:8-13)
In part 1, verses 1-3, he argues that exercising the gifts of the Spirit without love is worthless. In my own unpolished words: “Gifts without love are nothing but a joke”, they are useless.
Then in part 2, verses 4-7, he presents in a beautiful poetic form what love is and what it is not. True love is not self-centered but it pursues what is best for others. “Love seeks what is best for the rest”
And finally, in part 3, from verse 8 until the end of the chapter, Paul reminds the Corinthians that their gifts are temporary, while love is not. “Gifts pass away but love will remain”
And all these three arguments have the cumulative intent to urge the Corinthians to let love motivate their desire for spiritual gifts.
Let love motivate your desire for spiritual gifts
So let’s now dive into point #1
1. Gifts without love are nothing but a joke (13:1-3)
In this section Paul tells the Corinthians that it is pointless and unprofitable to have powerful gifts without love motivating their actions. I summarized this section with my own unrefined language: “gifts without love are nothing but a joke”.
Paul illustrates his argument with several examples. In verse 1, he tells the Corinthians
13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
A noisy gong! What comes to your mind when you think about a gong? [Display picture below]
For whatever reason I think about kung-fu monks solemnly banging this plate to announce some event.
You can also think of students practicing in a band clanging cymbals.
You can talk your heads off in tongues, as much as you want, in all sorts of angelic and human languages, you can seek to impress your peers and the guests and yourself, but if you are not motivated by love … you are just like a noisy gong, you are just like a clanging cymbal, making noise, noise without purpose and profit, without real fruitfulness.
13:2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
Yes, you may have awesome prophetic powers and be admired by people, or have the ability to discern mysteries and understand the hearts of man, you may be able to recite long portions of Scripture and have a great ability to teach, you may possess a gigantic faith capable of moving mount Everest, but if you are not motivated by love, if you are not seeking to bless, edify and build up others… your efforts are ultimately worthless. Gifts without love are nothing but a joke! They are useless, worthless, pointless.
13:3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
You may be a great philanthropist and may have a natural inclination to share your resources and give them away. You may give your money, your time, your energy, you can even give away your own body to be burned. But the reason why you do it matters, in particular, it matters to God, who sees the motivations behind your actions. What is hidden to everyone else is not hidden to God. If you are not motivated by genuine love and care for others, you gain nothing before God!
This is very tough! Who can stand under the lens and scrutiny of Scripture? In light of what we just read should you and I question and discern the motives that fuel our actions, and the use of our skills and gifts? I think we should.
What are those natural gifts, passions, and interests you have? God has created you with specific and particular skills and abilities. And you can use those skills for the service and the good of others, but you can also use them selfishly, with pride and arrogance. Perhaps you don’t tell others, but could it be that deep inside you think you are superior to the rest because of your gifts? Do you think that everyone in the church should have the same passions and interests as yours and if they don’t they are somehow inferior or blind? Do you seek to use those gifts for the good of others? Are you motivated by love?
Because gifts without love are nothing but a joke, they are worthless, they profit nothing, they gain nothing!
Instead let love motivate your desire for spiritual gifts.
Now, if love is what should motivate us, then the question is: What is love? And what is not? What does true love look like? Paul answers those questions in point #2:
2. Love seeks what is best for the rest (13:4-7)
Here Paul presents this remarkable poetic rendition of love. He dresses love with personal qualities and actions to illustrate what true love looks like. These qualities of true love are not romanticized. They are concrete qualities and actions that remove the possibility of a fluffy, superficial love.
Here’s a summary of what these verses have to say about love:
Love is patient and kind. Love does rejoice with the truth, bear, believe, hope, and endure. Love is not arrogant, rude, irritable, or resentful. Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, envy, boast, or insist on its own way.
On one side we see what love is not. The opposite of love, lovelessness, is arrogant, rude, irritable, envious, boastful. Lovelessness is self-centered, and focused on self.
On the other side, we see in contrast that love is patient and kind, and it bears, believes, hopes and endures all for the sake of others. Love is focused on others. It genuinely cares for others.
Love does not look out for self but it seeks what is best for the rest.
Let’s take a closer look at these verses:
13:4 Love is patient and kind
As you interact with people while using your gifts, are you characterized by being patient and kind, or can they actually experience your impatience. Do people around you say: “Oh I love working around you, you are always so patient and kind to me”. Or is it more like: “You are gifted and smart, but oh boy, you have a short fuse and become impatient rather quickly, I feel intimidated by you”
Ask those questions about yourself, or even better, ask the people around you.
As I was reading these words, I was immediately convicted. Would my own children and wife say that I am characterized by patience and kindness? Maybe not, perhaps I am more concerned about my own schedule, interests and perspective, and therefore I become quickly impatient and unkind.
But love is patient and kind, because love seeks what is the best for the rest.
13:4 Love does not envy
Do you get jealous about the abilities and skills of others? Do you tend to say: “Oh I wish I had that gift”. There is nothing wrong in desiring gifts and rejoicing in the gifts of others, but being envious, and sinfully coveting the gifts of others, will not lead to a good end. Love does not envy.
13:4 Love does not boast, it is not arrogant
Do you boast about your gifts? Do you want to put them on display to be noticed? Do you get angry when people don’t recognize your gifts? Why?
What do you have that you have not received? Every good gift comes from above, from the Father of lights (James 1:17). Those gifts were granted to you, they did not originate from you, so there is no sense in boasting about what you don’t own.
Those gifts were given to you for the edification of your brothers and sisters. Don’t boast and become arrogant about them. But don’t hide them either. They are not yours. Instead, seek to use them for the benefit of others, because love seeks the best for the rest.
13:5 Love is not rude, it is not irritable
Are you quickly irritated and annoyed by what others think, say or do? And then become impatient and rude?
These are the opposite of what love is. Love is patient and kind, not irritable or rude.
13:5 Love does not insist on its own way
Do you have the attitude of “It is my way or the highway?” or like Frank Sinatra sings: “I did it my way”! Or do you seek to work with and for others? Not insisting on doing things your way or thinking that your way is the only valid way, but considering others, allowing them to contribute with their ideas, while respecting and genuinely valuing their opinion.
13:5 Love is not resentful
Do you tend to keep a list of wrongs against you and use them as weapons when in conflict? Do you keep an account and become bitter as a result? Do you see yourself as a victim most of the time? Or do you seek to be forgiving, recognizing that God has been gracious, patient, merciful to you?
13:6 Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing
Love never laughs when others experience wrong. It does not say: “I told you”! Or “you are reaping what you deserve”. But love pursues and rejoices with righteousness and the truth
13:7 Love bears, believes, hopes and endures all things
These sets of qualities show from different angles the general disposition of love: love is willing to bear all things for the sake of others, to believe the best about others, to hope for a good outcome for the rest in all circumstances, to endure harm for the benefit of others.
Love seeks what is best for the rest all the time! That is Paul’s second argument
Can you live up to this standard? I know I can’t. Is it even possible that someone can have this type of love so noble, so pure? Yes! There is one who perfectly measures up to this standard.
More about him in a moment, but for now let’s move to Paul’s third and last argument
3. Gifts pass away but love will remain (13:8-13)
13:8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
Love never falls, never fails, never breaks, love endures forever.
As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
So prophecies, tongues, knowledge, and by extension all the gifts, will not last forever, they will all come to an end. Why?
13:9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part
We still live in an imperfect age: where understanding and knowledge are partial. The purpose of the gifts is to help the people of God to increase their knowledge and understanding, until they all reach maturity, the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. We need the gift of knowledge because we know in part, we need prophecy because we need encouragement, we need the gift of healing because there is still sickness, we need miracles because our faith is weak.
13:10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
One day the perfect will arrive and the partial will pass away. When health, knowledge, understanding, maturity, and unity will be full and complete! At that point the gifts will not be needed anymore. They would have fulfilled their goal, and therefore will pass away.
We are growing from spiritual children to adults.
To witness children grow is an amazing experience. I still remember holding my first child in my arms when she was a baby. I walked as a proud dad in the mall, holding my baby in one arm. But kids go from crawling to walking and then running, and in my case they will soon start driving, and one day they will take off. Children grow up. They start very dependent, needing a lot of help and instruction, but as they grow they become more and more independent until they become self-sufficient adults. Our spiritual growth is like that:
13:11 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.
Right now we still live in the “not yet” era. We are still growing, we are still like children, in the process of maturing and we need the gifts to help us grow and mature. But once we become grown ups, we do not need the help anymore. At that point there is no more need of the gifts, it is time to give up childish ways and fully enjoy adulthood.
13:12 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.
The way we see things now is blurry, and partial, but a day is coming when we will see things clearly and we will know fully.
During the pandemic, video conferences have been a blessing for many of us. They enabled us to keep in touch with friends and family, near and far. My mom and sisters live in Bolivia, and the videoconferencing made it feel as if they were not that far away.
But I recently went to Bolivia to see them face to face and I realized that as much as a video camera helps me to keep in touch, it is never the same as seeing my mom and my sisters face to face. The video camera is like seeing them dimly through a glass, but nothing compares to seeing them face to face.
In a similar way, right now we have partial knowledge and understanding and the gifts help us to see things dimly through a glass, but one day we will see God face to face, and the gifts will be no longer needed. One day I will be in front of him, face to face, and finally fully understand his love for me, supremely expressed in giving his Son Jesus for me.
13:13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Love is the greatest of these! The Bible does not say God is faith or God is hope, but it says God is Love!
God himself is love! He is motivated by pure, noble and perfect love!
For God so loved the world that he sent his only son so that whoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life
God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be crushed for our sins
In his fathomless love, from eternity past God had designed his rescue plan for us, motivated by his own love. The Son, motivated by love for his father and love for the ones he was sent to rescue, gave his body to be nailed on a cross, he showed his patience and kindness towards us, he humbled himself, when he truly had the right to hold on to his supremacy. But he showed us how not to be proud, arrogant, or rude. He bore all things, he endured all things for you and for me. He fulfills the love song we just read perfectly.
We understand this love in part, in a dim way, but one day we will see him face to face, and the veil will fully fall and we will see clearly how he truly loved us.
Let that great love motivate and ignite your desire to pursue the spiritual gifts and to develop them for the sake of others, for the glory of the one who gives the gifts, to the honor of the one who loved us!
- Gifts without love are nothing but a joke
- Love seeks the best for the rest
- Gifts will pass away, but love will remain forever
Therefore,
Let love motivate your desire for spiritual gifts