Epiphany Season · Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany · Year C
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Love
January 30, 2028
Overview & Insights
“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)
Although God grants his gifts as an act of grace and not on the basis of merit, there is a dynamic relationship between the effectiveness of the gift and the life of the Christian.1Paul treats this connection between spiritual gifts and the quality of the believer’s life most directly in this chapter. The abrupt insertion of this outburst on love in the midst of his discussion of spiritual gifts (chaps. 12 and 14) signals the intrinsic relatedness of life and gifting in Paul’s mind. Moreover, the unrelenting emphasis that the Christian is nothing (13:2) and gains nothing (13:3) without love exhibits how in Paul’s reasoning spiritual gifts require godliness for true effectiveness. Interpretive Insights 12:31 I will show you the most excellent way. This transitional sentence functions almost like a reset button that lets Paul start over.
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Commentary
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Working Preacher
The RCL's own preaching commentary on Paul's hymn to love.
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching
A Reformed preaching-focused reading of love as the greater gift.
1 Corinthians 13 - Love is the Greatest Enduring Word · David Guzik
A verse-by-verse evangelical study of love's patience, its limits on pride, and its permanence.
1 Corinthians 13 Commentaries and Sermons Precept Austin
An inductive study gateway with word studies and cross references across the chapter.
1 Corinthians 13:1 Commentaries BibleHub
Classic commentaries gathered verse by verse on love as the way that surpasses every gift.
1 Corinthians 13 Verse-by-Verse Commentary StudyLight
Gill's Exposition read straight through the chapter for a further expositional voice.
Background & Word Study
The Church Fathers
Questions preachers ask
What is the way of love?
Without love, the greatest gifts are nothing; love is patient and kind, bears and hopes all things and never ends; now we see in a mirror dimly, but love is the greatest (1 Corinthians 13:1–13).
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