Love Is Patient, Love Is Kind

1 Corinthians 13 is one of the most publicized passages in Scripture. If you’ve been to a wedding this year, chances are you’ve heard it recited recently. 1 Corinthians 13:1–13 is a powerful depiction of the significance of love, and the qualities love possesses.

Now, you can experience this passage in a whole new way. Encourage your friends with this visual representation of biblical love:


Warm videos, uplifting music, and beautiful art are great tools to help us process and reflect on Scripture. If you want to go even deeper, search a passage in the Faithlife Study Bible, and you’ll find three layers of notes to help you get more from each verse.

Let’s see what the FSB has to offer us about 1 Corinthians 13:1–8.

Without any context, we know that a clanging cymbal is just noise by itself—it’s only a piece of the song. The video and the passage itself allows us to take a moment to reflect on phrases like this, but when you add the FSB, you add a whole new dimension to your study. In this case, you learn that “People used cymbals to worship Dionysus, the god of wine. Paul mentions the “clashing cymbal” to suggest that spiritual gifts without love make the Corinthians’ worship no different from the pagans’.”

The FSB also helps us see the connections between each passage. When Paul says, “If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing” in 1 Corinthians 13:3, the FSB reminds us that this verse echoes Jesus’ command to the rich young man in Matthew 19:21 and Luke 18:22. In Acts 2:45, we see early Christians selling their property to meet the physical needs of those around them. Paul often vocalized the importance of helping the poor (Galatians 2:10).

These things were important to Paul, but without love (which the FSB defines here as “a genuine and selfless concern for the well-being of others”) these pursuits are meaningless.

The Faithlife Study Bible has over a dozen more separate notes just on these eight verses. For more food for thought as you study Scripture, download the FSB for free, and start taking your Bible study deeper today.

What passage would you like to see a video of next? Tell us in the comments!

Share
Written by
Ryan Nelson

Ryan Nelson is a writer for OverviewBible, where he uses Logos to explore the characters, groups, places, and books of the Bible. He has served in a variety of volunteer ministry positions, primarily through Young Life.

View all articles

Your email address has been added

Written by Ryan Nelson
All Deals Live: Save up to 60% on March Matchups commentaries and more.
This is default text for notification bar