Have you ever known someone who acted as though they were God’s gift to humanity? This person can do no wrong. Say no wrong. They are the be all and end all. Their talent and wisdom abounds… But they’re a complete jerk. You can have all the knowledge and talent in the world, but if you have no love, it’s all worthless.

If I could speak in any language in heaven or on earth but didn’t love others, I would only be making meaningless noise like a loud gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I know all the mysteries of the future and knew everything about everything, but didn’t love others, what good would I be? And if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, without love I would be no good to anybody. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would be of no value whatsoever.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NLT)

We all tend to skip down in this chapter to the part about love being patient and kind. But what about why we should love? Have you ever wondered why this chapter about love is stuck right in the middle of a bunch of chapters about the gifts of the Holy Spirit? It wasn’t so that we’d have something nice to say at weddings. It is so that we understand that, while we should desire the gifts of the Spirit, we should desire to love more—because love is what makes the gifts work. Love came before them and love will endure after them. Without love, these incredible gifts that God gives to us are useless.

Like the person who believes they are everything to everyone, but loves no one, their words and actions are meaningless. How can someone receive a word of wisdom or prophecy if the person delivering it lacks love? How can the gift of faith be activated to heal if you don’t first love the person in need of a miracle? What is a gift worth if it is not given in love?

There are three things that will endure—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13 (NLT)

God’s gift to humanity is not a know-it-all. God’s gift to humanity is love—the love He freely gives to us and the ability He has given us to love others. As Paul begins the next chapter, let love be your highest goal.

Daily Bible reading: Proverbs 3-4, 1 Corinthians 13