This verse forms a transition from Paul’s discussion about spiritual gifts to the great love chapter 13. The motive for the transition is found in verse 25 that says, “that there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.” The apostle had many reasons to address what needed to be corrected in the Corinthian church. They formed cliques and loyalties around certain key figures in recent church history. They argued among themselves for who was the best.
Then they needed to hear this dissertation about spiritual giftedness because not everyone in the church can or should function the same under the direction of the Holy Spirit for the edification of the body of Christ. They quarreled about precedence and lost the whole concept of divine love. They emotionally challenged others as to who would be ranked first among believers. As a result, their endeavors fueled pride with contention. The question at hand was to ask what good it would be to be gifted without love to others?
Unfortunately, churches have within their membership people who strive for titles, offices, or authority over others as if that meant they were great Christians while the others were lesser Christians. Paul ordered the Corinthians to earnestly desire something better in their lives. They should be zealous while strongly seeking that which is good for the church. For us today, our part in the membership should aim to what really is, not what seems, the most splendid and divinely effective part of our individual functions like the various parts of the human body.
In our service to the Lord, we are admonished to discover a more excellent way of living the Christian life. This is why the verse is a transition because a gift without love is no gift. The presumption is that the Holy Spirit would be allowed to do his work in our hearts and minds based on divine love. The emphasis of seeking should not be directed toward giftedness, but that God’s love have his way within us and through us. The reason is that God gives gifts to members and then gives the gifted to the church. It is a wonderment for everyone to be gifted by the Holy Spirit. It is an astonishment for those gifted to have their blessing harnessed by divine love. There is no such thing as a super Christian otherwise we would be wearing T-shirts bearing an emblem of SC.
This is the road to heaven, not through gifts, but through God’s love working within our hearts while being shared to the population. Heaven on earth can be a reality for those who allow the Holy Spirit to translate their gifts into something more powerful by the functioning of God’s love. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are endowed by the Holy Spirit otherwise they would not be gifts. To request a gift is a sign of spiritual greediness. To desire the best gift opens the heart to the revelation of God’s character. There is a difference between requesting a gift and desiring a gift. A key point of desire is an indication for the believer who seeks to be more mature spiritually today than yesterday. In the process of desiring is to partner with the Holy Spirit who would make us love one another regardless of who they are, of what they have done good or bad so that we all may together edify or build up the body of Christ on the world’s stage.
Christian Writer 