Love Never Ends — TDW Kids

Love Never Fails

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Paul wrote, “Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:8). The gifts he talked about are for now. Love is forever.

Gifts for now. Prophecies, tongues and knowledge are real gifts of the Holy Spirit. God gives them to build up His church today (1 Corinthians 14:12).

But only for now. “Whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away” (13:8).

Why they end. “For we know in part and we prophesy in part” (13:9). The gifts are like flashlights in a dark room. When the sun comes up, you do not need a flashlight anymore.

The perfect. “But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away” (13:10). Many Christians see this as the day Jesus comes back for His people.

Until then. Until that day, God still gives gifts to His church. Paul told the Corinthians, “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts” (14:1).

God’s love never fails. “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Forever. “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever” (Psalm 136:1).

Nothing can separate us. Paul was sure that nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).

Jesus does not change. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). His love for you will never run out.

Love that gives. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Everlasting life means life with God that never ends, and it is a gift of His love.

Love at the cross. The cross is where we see this love most clearly. Jesus kept loving all the way to death, and then He rose again. Even death could not stop His love.

Love lasts. Toys break, trophies get dusty, and even the gifts of the Spirit are for this life. Love is the one thing that goes on into heaven.

What to do. Tomorrow morning, thank God that His mercies are new every morning. Then spend your day on what lasts: loving God and loving people.

Love does more than act well; it lasts. The gifts the Corinthians prized most belong to this age, but love belongs to forever.

Ekpiptei. “Never fails” is ekpiptei (say: ek-PIP-tay), literally to fall off or drop away. The word was used for flowers that dry up and fall (James 1:11). Love never drops off like a dead petal.

Three gifts, three verbs. Prophecies “will fail,” tongues “will cease,” and knowledge “will vanish away.” Each gift belongs to the time before we see Christ.

In part (13:9). Even true prophecy and true knowledge are partial. They are like true pieces of a puzzle that do not yet show the whole picture.

The perfect (13:10). The plain words point to a coming completeness that ends what is partial. Verse 12 describes it as seeing “face to face.” Many Christians see this as the return of Jesus, when believers will be with Him.

Gifts for today. Until that day, the Spirit still gives gifts “to each one individually as He wills” (12:11), to be used “decently and in order” (14:40). Love is the way to use them.

Lamentations 3:22-23. These verses were written after Jerusalem was destroyed. Even then, God’s compassions “fail not.” On one of the worst days in Israel’s history, God’s love had not dropped away.

Psalm 136. Every verse of the psalm repeats, “For His mercy endures forever.” God’s people sang it over and over so that no one could forget it.

Romans 8:38-39. Paul lists death and life, angels and powers, things present and things to come, height and depth. None of them can separate a believer “from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Hebrews 13:8. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” A love rooted in the unchanging Son of God cannot fail.

John 3:16. God’s love is not a feeling that fades but a gift that was given: “He gave His only begotten Son.” The result is “everlasting life,” life that, like love, never ends.

The cross and the empty tomb. Death was the greatest test of love. Jesus loved through it and came out the other side alive (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). His love has already outlasted death.

Application. Much of what people chase will not last. Spend your life on what will: knowing Jesus and loving people. Use your gifts, but hold them loosely, and keep on loving.

Face to Face

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Paul ended his teaching on love by looking ahead. One day we will see God face to face, and faith, hope and love will remain.

Growing up. “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (13:11).

What Paul meant. He was not saying children are bad. He meant that life now is like childhood compared with heaven. One day we will understand God in a grown-up way.

Grow up in love. The Corinthians were acting childish, arguing about who had the best gift. Growing up in Jesus means growing in love.

A blurry mirror. “For now we see in a mirror, dimly” (13:12). Mirrors were made of polished metal. You could see yourself, but not clearly.

Face to face. “But then face to face” (13:12). One day we will see Jesus as He is. “They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads” (Revelation 22:4).

Known completely. “Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known” (13:12). God already knows everything about you, the good and the bad, and He loves you anyway.

Faith. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Faith trusts God before we see Him.

Hope. Bible hope is not wishing. It is being sure God will keep His promises. “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing” (Romans 15:13).

Love. When we see Jesus, faith will become sight and hope will come true. Love will go on forever, because God is love (1 John 4:8).

Becoming like Him. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Even now, as we look at Jesus in His Word, the Spirit makes us more like Him.

God with us. “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them” (Revelation 21:3). Heaven is being with God forever.

No more tears. “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying” (Revelation 21:4). Seeing God face to face will mean every sad thing is gone.

A place prepared. Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). He died for our sins and rose again so that everyone who trusts Him can be with Him.

What to do. Talk to Jesus today like the Friend you will one day see face to face. Ask Him to help you grow up in love.

Verses 11-13 compare life now with the life to come. Three pictures carry the teaching: a child growing up, a mirror, and three things that remain.

The child (13:11). Paul uses three verbs: spoke, understood, thought. All three will be outgrown. Our present grasp of God is real but childlike.

A word to Corinth. Paul later told them, “Brethren, do not be children in understanding” (14:20). Their pride over gifts showed they were not yet mature. Love is the mark of a grown-up believer.

Ainigmati. “Dimly” translates en ainigmati (say: en eye-NIG-mah-tee), literally in a riddle. The English word enigma comes from it. God has truly shown Himself, but much is still a puzzle to us.

Numbers 12:8. God said He spoke with Moses “face to face, Even plainly, and not in dark sayings.” One day every believer will know God that plainly.

Revelation 22:4. “They shall see His face.” No sinner could see God’s face and live (Exodus 33:20), but the people Jesus has made clean will see Him with joy.

2 Corinthians 3:18. Paul uses the mirror picture again: as we behold “the glory of the Lord,” we “are being transformed into the same image.” The dim mirror of now is already changing us.

Known before knowing. “I shall know just as I also am known.” God’s knowledge of us comes first and is complete. David praised God for it: “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).

Faith and hope. Faith is “the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1), and “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). When we see, faith becomes sight, and hope becomes having.

Why love is greatest. Faith and hope fit our time of waiting. Love is the life of heaven itself, because “God is love” (1 John 4:8).

Our hope is a Person. “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself” (John 14:2-3).

The resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul teaches that because Christ rose, “we shall all be changed” (15:51). Many Christians see this as the moment Jesus comes to take His church home.

Application. Live now in light of then. Grow up in love, trust God with the riddles you cannot solve, and look forward to seeing Jesus face to face.

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