Love is the only gift that is complete and that lasts. It s right here in Chapter 13. Love never ends, Paul says. All the other gifts will pass. They re temporal.
Love alone is complete, eternal.
I want to make an important distinction here, not just theologically but practically. Our prophesy, the interpretation of our times and God s hand at work within it, is never complete. Knowledge, too, our understanding of our existence and the world around us, it s only partial. Paul s not saying that these gifts are unimportant. He s simply saying they aren t complete and we shouldn t claim that they are, and that they won t last.