Bible Reading Challenge #41
Before we dive into Paul’s description of love, take a moment to think about how you would describe it.
What does love feel like?
What does love look like?
What does love act like?
1 Corinthians 13:4–7
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
Paul doesn’t define love by emotion or attraction but by action and attitude. Each phrase paints a picture of what genuine, Christlike love looks like in everyday life.
As people loved by God, we’re called to make His love known through how we live.
Here’s the charge:
Be patient and kind.
Fight against irritability and arrogance.
Lift others up instead of exalting self.
Let go of grudges and quiet envy.
Rejoice in truth, not failure.
Bear, believe, hope, and endure the best in and for others.
When we live this way, we become walking examples of love — in the classroom, in the neighborhood, in the office, at the rec center, on social media, and around the dinner table.
Love isn’t just something we feel.
It’s something we live.
Bible Reading Challenge #40
1 Corinthians 13:1–3
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 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. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
Paul makes a bold statement:
It doesn’t matter what you can do — if you do it without love, it’s meaningless. Without love, all your spiritual gifts, your knowledge, your sacrifice, and your faith amount to nothing.
A problem had taken root in Corinth. The people were spiritual, but they weren’t loving. They boasted about their gifts or envied those who seemed more gifted. They desired to look spiritual more than they desired to love others purely.
The modern church isn’t immune to this either.
We often exalt leaders who are charismatic and gifted, yet lack love. Some live with hidden sin, build their own platforms, and mistreat those around them — but because they’re impressive on stage, they’re praised and quoted as heroes of the faith.
Corinth was no different. They were drawn to “superheroes” of Christianity rather than servants marked by love.
But the people of God must be people of love.
Love toward God.
Love toward your spouse.
Love toward your children.
Love toward your coworkers.
Love toward your neighbors.
Love even toward your enemies.
So let’s ask ourselves:
Are we people of love — or just people of spiritual performance?
Do we want to appear spiritual, or do we truly want to love like Jesus?
Because without love, we gain nothing.
Bible Reading Challenge #39
Paul ends chapter 12 with a teaser — a setup for what’s coming next:
“And now I will show you a still more excellent way.”
He’s saying there’s something even better than learning about spiritual gifts.
Something more important, more beneficial, more lasting.
What is that more excellent way? LOVE.
Before we read the passage, let’s pause on the word love itself.
The Greek word Paul uses here is agape — a word that was rarely used in ancient Greece.
Why?
Because the Greeks didn’t admire what it meant.
Agape is not a selfish or self-serving love.
It’s a love that gives rather than takes.
A love that seeks the good of others, not itself.
A love that keeps showing up — even when it costs something.
C.S. Lewis described agape as unconditional love — a divine kind of love.
The best example? God Himself.
He loves with an unearned, gracious, and never-ending love that always seeks the good of those He loves.
So as we read this chapter...
Keep this in mind:
Paul isn’t describing a feeling — he’s describing an attitude.
He’s calling us to a selfless, giving, compassionate kind of love —
a love that’s willing to be hurt, yet keeps on loving.
The Passage: 1 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.
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.
Reflection
Paul’s message is clear:
Spiritual gifts will fade.
Knowledge will pass.
Faith and hope will endure —
but love is what will last forever.
Because love is the one thing that reflects the very heart of God.
Bible Reading Challenge 38
1 Corinthians 12:27-31
27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts.
And I will show you a still more excellent way.
Stop! Before you go any farther, I need to remind you what comes before these verses. Paul has spent the entirety of chapter 12 talking about one thing, UNITY! He has taught how the body of Christ (His Church) is one body made up of many members, and that each part of the body (every individual Christian, every includes you!) has different gifts given by God that are meant to be used in the church to carry out our mission to glorify God by sharing the gospel with the lost and helping each other grow in relationship and obedience to God. Paul is absolutely clear that EVERY single gift and EVERY single person is needed for this task, and we must fight hard against our natural temptation to elevate certain gifts above others (for us, this is normally the flashy gifts that put some in front of others like teaching/preaching, being more extroverted in personality, etc, while we tend to undervalue gifts that are used more in private or in the background).
So, I want you to have these ideas of unity and of all gifts being of necessary and equal value to the church before we discuss this passage and what it means for us.
In these verses Paul does something he hasn’t yet done, he describes the lists very clearly in a list and almost seems to be ranking them. But that can’t be right, we just talked about how all gifts are needed and should be valued equally. We also can’t assume that Paul was just being thoughtless with his language, this is the inspired Word of God, even the order of the words in it matters (it is also very clearly in the Greek first, second, and third). So what does it mean?
Paul here is establishing that though gifts are equal in value, there is an authority in church life given to those with certain gifts if/once they have the character to match. This authority is specifically concerning the first three gifts Paul lists, and is specifically for the interpretation and application of God’s Word for church life.
The highest authority is to the apostles, this is a very limited group including those who saw Jesus Christ in the flesh and were appointed by Him for this task. There are no more apostles today.
After the apostles come the prophets, those bringing a specific message from God to His people. It is not for me to decide for you whether there are prophets among us today, but if there is one claiming to be so, let us hold them to God’s standard for true prophets. That standard is 100% accuracy, in every single word (Deuteronomy 18:15-22).
Then teachers, this is the most common authoritative gift left to us today. This includes those in church leadership, specifically what the new testament calls shepherds or elders, what we nowadays most often call pastors. The gift of teaching alone does not qualify someone for this role, they must also demonstrate other applicable gifts and most importantly have the character to handle these gifts and their role. However, if one does not possess the gift of teaching to authoritatively (not perfectly) handle the Word of God for church life, this would disqualify from the role of pastor.
Paul then gives a non-exhaustive list of some other spiritual gifts, and these are not ranked in any kind of order (this is why Paul switches from first, second, third to then, then language). However, Paul does put tongues at the absolute last place because he knows the Corinthians overvalue that particular gift.
BIBLE READING TIP: Notice I’m not discussing healing, miracles, other such spiritual gifts that we don’t seem to see at all or as often now. This is not out of fear or avoidance, rather they are not the main point of this passage. There are two camps throughout church history and we don’t need to fight over this. Some say these miraculous gifts were needed to establish the church and are no longer necessary, others say they continue today. While an interesting discussion, that is not the main point of this passage (always try to focus on the main point of a passage!!).
Sorry I know that was a long bit of teaching, but it is important for us to know. So what do these verses actually mean for us?
You have at least one spiritual gift, and you must use it for God’s glory, most often this is not only in church life but you can use it in your personal life as well! We need you to use your gifts or we are failing at part of our mission as a church!!
Be very careful of what gifts you tend to over or under value, specifically seek to honor those with gifts you undervalue (this will greatly help you in this struggle)
Genuinely desire spiritual gifts from God so that you can use them for His glory! Do not be afraid to want or even ask for gifts from God!! Just be careful you don’t try to force something that isn’t you.
PS: Come back next week to learn about the even better and more important thing than these spiritual gifts.
Bible Reading Challenge 337
1 Corinthians 12:21–26 (ESV)
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
You Play a Part
Whether you’ve been a member here for decades or a visitor for just a few weeks — you play a part.
Whether you are young or old, rich or poor, working or retired — you play a part.
Guess what? We need you to play your part!
It’s easy to sit on the sidelines of faith — to attend, observe, and absorb religious activity without ever engaging in it. But Scripture doesn’t describe a spectator version of Christianity. The believers we see in the Bible are active participants in God’s mission — living in response to the work of Jesus on the cross and in the tomb. That doesn’t mean we are perfect, but it does mean we are purposeful.
At FBC Farmers Branch, we don’t need fans — we need players.
We need you to use your God-given gifts, personality, and experiences to invest in this church family. God has uniquely gifted you and intends for you to use that gift for the common good and for His glory.
So remember this truth:
👉 You play a part, and your part matters.
I want to challenge you — respond to this email and share one way you’re serving or feel God leading you to serve. That could be in our church, in your home, in the community, or at your workplace. Let’s celebrate the many ways God is working through His body — through you.