If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. 2 And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, 5 it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, 6 it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. 9 For we know partially and we prophesy partially, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. 12 At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. 13 So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
The Corinthians had been living in ways that betrayed the Gospel’s call to holiness and love. Immoral behavior (1 Cor 5:1–8), improper treatment of others (1 Cor 7:36), and selfishness (1 Cor 10:24) were causing divisions and conflicts in the community. In response, Paul presents love as the remedy for their failings. Personifying love, he describes the virtues they must cultivate, emphasizing that love is an active, dynamic reality, poured into their hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5). This divine love will strengthen them to endure the difficulties and sufferings they face for the sake of the Gospel (1 Cor 9:23).
Love is the greatest of all gifts and an essential condition for salvation. Paul emphasizes that agapē—self-sacrificing love, the highest form of love—is the foundation of Christian life, most perfectly exemplified in Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross. Through love, Christians are united with God and one another, reflecting the Trinitarian life of self-giving (cf. John 15:13).
Paul tells the Corinthians that even if one possesses the gift of speaking in tongues (considered the least of the charisms), the gift of prophecy (the greatest of the charisms), has all knowledge, miracle-working faith, gives away all possessions, or even offers oneself in martyrdom, all of these would amount to nothing without love. Spiritual gifts, no matter how extraordinary, lose their divine purpose and fail to build up the Body of Christ when divorced from love (cf. 1 Cor. 12:7).
Christians can only achieve the existence ordained by God through love, for love reflects the very essence of God (cf. 1 John 4:8). Love is not merely the most important virtue but the most necessary component of Christian spiritual life. It is the bond of perfection (cf. Col. 3:14), ensuring that faith and hope, though vital, find their fulfillment and meaning in the eternal, self-giving love that endures forever.
Paul paints a vivid picture of love as the lifeblood of the Christian life, showing it to be both active and enduring. Love is patient and kind, embodying God’s own nature, and it refuses to be jealous, boastful, or arrogant. It seeks the good of others, not its own interests, and remains calm in the face of provocation, never holding on to past injuries. Love finds no joy in wrongdoing but delights in the truth, always aligning itself with righteousness. It bears every burden, trusts with hope, and perseveres through every trial, making it the unshakable foundation of Christian virtue and community.
Paul highlights the Corinthians’ spiritual immaturity (cf. 1 Cor. 3:1), noting their excessive focus on spiritual gifts, which are temporary and partial. Gifts like knowledge and prophecy are limited by human understanding and will pass away when the Eschaton—the end of the world and the fulfillment of God’s kingdom—arrives. At that time, believers will know God fully, as they are fully known by Him. While spiritual gifts will cease, the virtues of faith, hope, and love remain foundational for authentic Christian living. Faith and hope, however, are for this life only, as faith will give way to sight (cf. 2 Cor. 5:7) and hope will be fulfilled. Love, the greatest of these virtues, transcends earthly life and will endure eternally in heaven, where it will be perfected. This eternal quality of love sets it apart, making it the most essential of all gifts.
Almighty God, fill our hearts with Your perfect love, that we may be patient and kind, rejoicing only in truth and bearing all things for the sake of the Gospel. Help us to value faith, hope, and love, and to live each day in the enduring power of Your agapē, reflecting the love of Christ in all we do. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Sources
- McSorley, Joseph. An Outline History of the Church by Centuries (From St. Peter to Pius XII). 2nd ed., B. Herder Book Co., 1944.
- Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
- Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
- Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Prentice Hall, 1990.
- Charpentier, Etienne. How to Read the Old Testament. Translated by John Bowden, 1981.
- Komonchak, Joseph, et al., editors. The New Dictionary of Theology.
Comments