First Corinthians 13 may be the best known chapter in the Bible. People recite it at weddings and post it on their walls even when they read little else of Scripture. In this episode of Leader's Lesson, part of our walk through First and Second Corinthians, we look at why Paul placed this chapter where he did and how teachers can bring it to their classes with care.

Throughout this letter Paul has been addressing a church marked by division and conflict, and his answer is love. We discuss how that love is not simply a feeling we summon on our own but something revealed in Christ and grounded in God's own character. Jesus, patient and kind, strong and yet forgiving, is the clearest picture of what this chapter describes.

In our conversation we also think through the questions a Sabbath School class might wrestle with. Why does Paul rank love above spiritual gifts and even above knowledge, given that knowledge can make us proud while love builds others up? Which quality in Paul's list is hardest for us to live out, whether it is patience, long suffering, or the call for love to believe all things and offer the benefit of the doubt rather than suspicion? And what does true love look like when we measure it against the life of Christ?

For teachers, we spend time on a skill worth practicing: asking good, open ended questions that let discussion rise out of the text itself. We also talk honestly about why it is acceptable to tell your class that you do not know an answer, and how that openness can make a class stronger rather than weaker.

This episode is meant to help you prepare during the study week, which runs from August 8 to August 14, 2026, ahead of teaching the lesson in class on Sabbath, August 15, 2026.

Next week we continue with Lesson 8, "The Power of Christ's Resurrection." New episodes are released every Sabbath to help you get ready.

Executive Producer: Carolina Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Producer: Henrique Gomes
Editing: Henrique Gomes
Logo: Becky Carpenter