So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13
The thirteenth verse of 1 Corinthians 13 is a strange verse upon first reading. However, it's easy to understand once you set the context.
Paul has been demonstrating to the Corinthians that the most important spiritual gift is love. In verses 1-3 he outlines the prominance of love. In verses 4 - 7 he highlights the practice of love. In verses 8 - 12 he highlights the permanence of love.
In this final statement Paul is contrasting the eternal nature of love (1 Corinthians 13:8) with the other important gifts of faith and hope. Since faith is the belief in things unseen and hope is in the things yet attained, both of these are temporary. When we are face-to-face with Christ then we will not need faith. When we receive our inheritance then we will not need hope.
Yet we will always have love, both for God and from God. That is the meaning of 1 Corinthians 13:13.
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