1 Corinthians 13:8-13 (NIV 2010)
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Reflection:
Paul pulls in the previous chapter’s concern for spiritual gifts and is ready to transition to the next chapter on what worship looks like. Everything is pulled together in love. Some things will be momentary (the gifts) to help encourage and build the church up; but faith, hope, and love will always be - and the greatest of these is love. Growing up or building up is knowing that our life story is now written with eternal expression, and the cross (the expressed love of God in Christ) is the central plot that in some sense begins eternity for us. When we hold this central plot and live in this love-centered/cross-centered way, eternal beginnings happen on earth. In our love for each other, we eternally affect one another for God’s glory.

Responding to the Transmission:
The acts of love, we will carry into eternity. How we affect one another for God’s glory, we will carry into eternity. Let us thank God for the family in Christ that He has provided for us. And let’s pray that we live in a greater measure of faith, of hope, and of love, as we live together in our communities and on our campuses. Let’s pray for an increase of God’s glory being revealed among us. Amen!