The Luther Seminary of Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States for Wednesday, 27 January 2016 "God Paue Daily Devotional" 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

The Luther Seminary of Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States for Wednesday, 27 January 2016 "God Paue Daily Devotional" 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

1 Corinthians 13:1

 I may speak in the tongues of men, even angels;

but if I lack love, I have become merely

blaring brass or a cymbal clanging.

2 I may have the gift of prophecy,

I may fathom all mysteries, know all things,

have all faith — enough to move mountains;

but if I lack love, I am nothing.

3 I may give away everything that I own,

I may even hand over my body to be burned;

but if I lack love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind, not jealous, not boastful,

5 not proud, rude or selfish, not easily angered,

and it keeps no record of wrongs.

6 Love does not gloat over other people’s sins

but takes its delight in the truth.

7 Love always bears up, always trusts,

always hopes, always endures.

8 Love never ends; but prophecies will pass,

tongues will cease, knowledge will pass.

9 For our knowledge is partial, and our prophecy partial;

10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass.

11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child,

thought like a child, argued like a child;

now that I have become a man,

I have finished with childish ways.

12 For now we see obscurely in a mirror,

but then it will be face to face.

Now I know partly; then I will know fully,

just as God has fully known me.

13 But for now, three things last —

trust, hope, love;

and the greatest of these is love.

[Complete Jewish Bible]
---------------------
The child does not understand everything; even we who are older still see only in a mirror. An old mirror will serve us best for seeing Paul's point. A modern mirror lit by electric lights gives back too sharp an image, one that tempts us to claim more knowledge than we have. The mirrors of Paul's time were made of polished metal and the reflection they returned was more like seeing one's self in a hub cap or a dark window.
What do we see hazily? These verses are only part of Paul's point. Reattached to the previous chapter they show the wider picture--not just an image of my own self, but rather that each one of us is part of the body of Christ. Even adults seldom have a clear understanding of how our part contributes to the body's work or an accurate notion of what the others do. Even so, even now we can have wavering but telling glimpses of the more excellent way of love.
You know me fully, God. When I revert to childish ways and look only to my own advantage, clear my vision. Turn my eyes to you. Show me the work that I can do. Fill my actions with love. Amen.
L. DeAne Lagerquist
Professor of Religion, St. Olaf College
Master of Arts , 1981
1 Corinthians 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have 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 do not have love, I am nothing.
3 If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant
5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.
7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.
9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part;
10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.
11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.
12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.
13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.[New Revised Standard Version]
---------------------