If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

                                                                                                            1 Corinthians 13:1-3 

In today’s passage, Paul covers three areas of life that are rendered invaluable without love as the foundation.

1. Loveless speech is nothing but noise

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  

In order to scare away wild animals, some people resort to banging on pots and pans. This seems to work pretty well with bears. They do not like the loud noise and, as a result, will usually find somewhere else to go. Paul says that if we speak and have not love as the foundation for our speech, we might as well be banging on pots and pans. This kind of loveless rhetoric will move people away from us as fast as the noise will move the bear away. No one wants to constantly hear critical, abusive, and accusatory speech. This is not the way we are to present the gospel and it doesn’t bode well for the way we speak to those closest to us either. Our speech should be void of any kind of condescending and abusive tone. Consider Paul’s instructions:

Let no unwholesome (putrid) word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

                                                                                                                 Ephesians 4:29 

Loving speech is the kind that builds others up. Sometimes we have to say difficult things to others but as we speak the truth to them, we must always do so with the love of God in mind.

2. Loveless knowledge amounts to nothing

If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 

The items listed here seem extremely powerful. The gift of prophecy is that of declaring truth. Preachers can be thought of in these terms as they bring the truth of scripture to the world, even when that word is not convenient or even embraced. Knowing all mysteries and having all knowledge sounds superb. And having enough faith to move mountains is what we should all desire to have. Prophecy, knowledge, and faith are all good things and should be the goal of every Christian. But Paul takes these good, spiritual things and lays them up against a loveless backdrop in an effort to demonstrate their ineffectiveness if not accompanied by love.

We see this a lot in our culture today, especially on social media. People, claiming to be defending the gospel, using hateful, accusatory, and condescending language towards others, often times fellow Christians. Finger pointing, arguing, and clamor seem to be the rule of the day. But as Paul reminds us, all of this noise is meaningless because it is not laced with the love of Almighty God. When we defend our beliefs against an onslaught of competing positions, we should always remember that the way we present our position is as important as the position itself. We truly prove ourselves to know nothing when we use loveless, hateful speech towards others who have also been made in the image of God (James 3:9).

3. Loveless action has no profit

And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. 

Can we even imagine someone sacrificing all of their material wealth that they spent a lifetime working towards, in an effort to help feed the poor? All possessions surrendered for the purpose of benevolence toward those less fortunate. And what about those who are martyred for the cause of Christ? Paul uses both of these powerful, sacrificial examples as another way of demonstrating that even these self-less acts profit us nothing if the motive behind them was not love.

We often commend people who make such sacrifices and, on some level, that is quite appropriate since most people have not surrendered such things. But again, love must be the motive behind these acts otherwise they become pointless. That is how powerful love is and how essential it has to be in our lives if we truly want to impact this world for the gospel.

Consider these other examples of how love accomplishes what God desires:

Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

                                                                                                               Romans 13:8 

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.  

                                                                                                                        1 John 4:7-8

Love is the fulfillment of God’s law and it is the only way for us to demonstrate Christian authenticity. So as we move throughout our day, remember that no matter what we say, or know, or do, it is all in vain apart from genuine, authentic, Christian love!