Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Our shout-out today goes to Bill & Peggy McAllister from West Point, NE. Thanks for your partnership in Project23. We cannot do this without donors like you.

Our text today is 1 Corinthians 13:8-10.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. — 1 Corinthians 13:8-10

"Love never ends."

That's the headline in this text. Everything else in this paragraph is a contrast to that.

Prophecies? Temporary. Tongues? Temporary. Knowledge? Temporary.

Corinth was captivated by what was dramatic and public. They attached spiritual weight to what drew attention and applause.

Paul reframes the timeline around the timeless

The gifts you are tempted to build all your identity around have an expiration date. They will end. Notice the verbs. Prophecies will "pass away." Tongues will "cease." Knowledge will "pass away."

But love? Never. This is an eschatological correction.

Paul lifts their eyes beyond the present moment and into the coming fullness—"when the perfect comes."

The force of Paul's argument is clear: what is partial will not last. So why do we worry about them so much? Spiritual gifts operate in the realm of the incomplete. But the force behind them—love— that belongs to the realm of the eternal.

That means if your confidence rests in your gifting, it rests in something fading.

Gifts are good, but they are anchored in what will vanish.

Love, however, reflects the very character of God.

This is why genuine self-giving love is greater.

Not because it is softer. But because it is eternal.

So, if you were stripped of the spiritual gifts you have, like my gift of teaching, would people see a loving believer behind it?

DO THIS:

Ask yourself what part of your spiritual life you would lose if your most visible gift disappeared tomorrow. Then cultivate love in hidden, uncelebrated ways this week.

ASK THIS:

1. Is my spiritual confidence tied to something temporary?
2. Would my faith remain stable if my gifting went unnoticed?
3. Am I investing more in what impresses now—or what lasts forever?

PRAY THIS:

Lord, detach my identity from what is fading. Anchor my heart in what is eternal. Teach me to value love above visibility and permanence above applause. Form in me what will endure beyond this age. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"The Everlasting Love of God"