Want to play a game? Get your class or group to find 1 Corinthians 13. Now, get them to pretend they have never seen these familiar words. What new discussion emerges?
Verse 1: What do the voices of angels sound like? When have I heard an angel speak? Isn’t a noisy gong or clanging cymbal sometimes helpful? What is Paul trying to teach us?
Verse 2: If I met someone who could explain all mysteries and whose faith could remove mountains, I’d think I had found someone clearly in touch with God. Why does Paul feel differently? What does love bring that these other values do not have?
Verse 3: If you donate huge sums to a mission project, what keeps this from being an act of ministry and service?
Verses 4-7: Do you remember three Greek words that get translated as “love”? Eros is erotic love. Philia is brotherly/sisterly love. Agape is the kind of love described in these verses. Can you give an example of each of these kinds of love?
Verse 13: Can you make a case that faith is greater than hope and love? Can you make a case that hope is greater than faith and love? What difference does it make if love is greater than faith and hope?
These verses are among the most familiar in the Bible. Still, we wonder: Is Love greater than Success? Is Love greater than Position? Is Love greater than Life? Every day we are making decisions that give our answer to these questions.
One day, an observer watched Mother Teresa do her dirty, difficult, and dangerous work among people with leprosy. He said to her, “I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars.” She replied, “I wouldn’t either.”
