Love Never Fails - Thursday Devotional
A devotional written by Rev. Roy Atwood
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (CEB)
If I speak in tongues of human beings and of angels but I don’t have love, I’m a clanging gong or a clashing cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and I know all the mysteries and everything else, and if I have such complete faith that I can move mountains but I don’t have love, I’m nothing. If I give away everything that I have and hand over my own body to feel good about what I’ve done but I don’t have love, I receive no benefit whatsoever.
Love is patient, love is kind, it isn’t jealous, it doesn’t brag, it isn’t arrogant, it isn’t rude, it doesn’t seek its own advantage, it isn’t irritable, it doesn’t keep a record of complaints, it isn’t happy with injustice, but it is happy with the truth. Love puts up with all things, trusts in all things, hopes for all things, endures all things.
Love never fails. As for prophecies, they will be brought to an end. As for tongues, they will stop. As for knowledge, it will be brought to an end. We know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, what is partial will be brought to an end. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, reason like a child, think like a child. But now that I have become a man, I’ve put an end to childish things. Now we see a reflection in a mirror; then we will see face-to-face. Now I know partially, but then I will know completely in the same way that I have been completely known. Now faith, hope, and love remain—these three things—and the greatest of these is love.
Not long after Paul planted a church in Corinth, he received word of factions developing among the young Christian community. He wrote the New Testament letter of 1 Corinthians to address these issues. Scholars believe Paul wrote the letter sometime between 53 and 57 AD.
In 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, Paul reminds us that love is the foundation of everything meaningful in life. Without it, even the most extraordinary gifts amount to nothing. The passage challenges us to prioritize love not as sentimentality, but as a radical way of being that reflects the essence of God.
Importantly, love is more than an individual virtue. It’s a communal practice. Paul’s description of love as patient, kind, and unselfish reminds us that love can only be practiced in community. His exhortation that love “isn’t happy with injustice” also calls us to embody love in ways that dismantle systems of oppression and seek justice for the marginalized. To love well is to work for a world where equity and truth prevail - where we love not just in words, but in actions that heal and uplift.
Paul also speaks of love as enduring. While human knowledge and achievements are fleeting, love connects us to eternity. In a world focused on success and power, this is a profound reminder that what truly matters is how we treat one another. Love “puts up with all things, trusts in all things, hopes for all things, endures all things.” Such love doesn’t gloss over pain or suffering; it carries us through them, grounding us in the hope that transformation is possible.
Finally, Paul tells us that love reflects the divine. While our understanding is partial, love allows us to glimpse God’s fullness. In this light, love is an invitation to mutual vulnerability, to know and be known, as God knows us. As we step into this new day, may we be rooted in a love that transforms ourselves and the world. For the greatest of all things is love.
- Rev. Roy Atwood, Associate Minister of Online Community