Paul sharpens this illustration with a further irony that would have startled his original hearers. He says that if someone speaks in church without making the gospel understandable, he is no better than a barbarian! Paul teaches about speaking in tongues.

Paul sharpens this illustration with a further irony that would have startled his original hearers. He says that if someone speaks in church without making the gospel understandable, he is no better than a barbarian! Paul teaches about speaking in tongues.

When Paul says "love never fails," he's not calling us to an impossible legalistic standard. Of course, we all fail in love on occasion, and those who love us also fail. We can think that love is blind or to be loving is to be naive, but Paul says Jesus' world is one of love, so being loving is seeing life as it really is.

When Paul says "love never fails," he's not calling us to an impossible legalistic standard. Of course, we all fail in love on occasion, and those who love us also fail. We can think that love is blind or to be loving is to be naive, but Paul says Jesus' world is one of love, so being loving is seeing life as it really is.

When we think of love, we tend to think of the head-in-the-clouds folly of a young romantic. Love is for the youthful idealist, someone who has not yet been seasoned by adversity and learned in practice that sometimes strength is more important than affection. Paul teaches that understanding and showing love is part of being a mature Christian.

When we think of love, we tend to think of the head-in-the-clouds folly of a young romantic. Love is for the youthful idealist, someone who has not yet been seasoned by adversity and learned in practice that sometimes strength is more important than affection. Paul teaches that understanding and showing love is part of being a mature Christian.

We as Christians will be better at advocating for the Bible, better at defending traditional values, and better at teaching the exclusivity of Christ if our rejoicing in truth is embedded in a 1 Corinthians 13 type of love.

We as Christians will be better at advocating for the Bible, better at defending traditional values, and better at teaching the exclusivity of Christ if our rejoicing in truth is embedded in a 1 Corinthians 13 type of love.

Perhaps we should contrast 1 Corinthians 13 to the popular pagan cults of today: "If I speak on the celebrity circuit to thousands but do not have love, I am just the sound of paparazzi flashes going off, or a noisy blog, or a meaningless tweet." Paul teaches about the countercultural beauty of love.

Perhaps we should contrast 1 Corinthians 13 to the popular pagan cults of today: "If I speak on the celebrity circuit to thousands but do not have love, I am just the sound of paparazzi flashes going off, or a noisy blog, or a meaningless tweet." Paul teaches about the countercultural beauty of love.