1 Corinthians 13:10

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No entry exists in Forerunner Commentary for 1 Corinthians 13:10.

I Corinthians 13:8-13
Excerpted from: Love's Importance and Source

What we are seeing stated here is love's supreme importance to life. In no way is Paul belittling the things that are contrasted here with love. I am talking about prophecy, about tongues, about knowledge. Despite all of their usefulness and despite all of their great qualities, neither prophecy, knowledge, nor tongues can even begin to compare in importance with love.

Prophecy, tongues, and knowledge—all of them—are, in the context of I Corinthians, gifts of God. You can see this stated in I Corinthians 12, which leads into I Corinthians 13. The Corinthians took great pleasure in their gifts, even as we might. But their relative importance, when compared to love, is shown in that they will all end. That is, that there are times when these things are of no use. But, you see, love will never end. There will never be a time when love cannot be used. It will always be of use.

Prophecy ends, because it is fulfilled. Tongues are not needed—even as today, they are not needed as they were in that ancient world. The reason is because the English language is virtually the universal tongue of business. In order for people to do business with the most powerful consumer nation in the world, they have to learn English. So, these other nations, then, instruct—teach—their people how to speak English, so that their country will be benefited. And so, through the English language, then, the gospel can go out to other nations. So being able to speak in another tongue is not necessary—not as necessary as it was back in those days, when that was not the case. And so, being able to have the ability to speak in another language is not useful anymore in the same way that it was at that time.

Knowledge becomes obsolete because new developments arise. The world does change. There is some knowledge that never changes, but other knowledge that a person might have becomes unusable anymore. It used to be common knowledge where people, let us say, in frontier times, in colonial times—virtually everybody knew how to make soap or candles. The quality of life depended upon one being able to make those things, because you could not just walk down to the store (as we can today) and buy a bar of Camay. And so, the knowledge of something like that has slipped away, and we no longer have that as common knowledge. And thus it is in other areas as well. The use of knowledge becomes obsolete as new developments arise.

Paul also admonishes through his reference to children and putting away of childish things, as well as the reference to a mirror in verse 12, that love is something that one grows into. It is something that must be perfected. It is part of a maturing process. What we have now is partial. It is, therefore, not something that one receives in one huge portion from God to be used until one runs out of that supply. So, in one sense then, we always have to look upon ourselves as being somewhat immature. There is more to life, more to love, than we have ever tapped or ever used. But there is coming a time when love will be perfected, and we will have it in abundance—like God. In the meantime, while we are in the flesh, we are (according to I Corinthians 14:1) instructed to pursue love.

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