1 Corinthians 13:11-13 teaches that the partial, childish ways we understand God and each other will one day give way to full knowledge, and that faith, hope, and love are the three things that last. Paul ends his famous chapter on love by saying that love is greater than the gifts and insights the Corinthians were so proud of.
The passage sits in the middle of a letter Paul wrote to a divided church in the Greek port city of Corinth, where believers were competing over spiritual gifts like speaking in tongues and prophecy. Paul uses a chapter-long argument to redirect their pride toward love, and these three verses form the close of that argument.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:11-13 (WEB)
1 Corinthians 13:11-13 Summary
Paul begins with a picture from ordinary life. A child talks, feels, and reasons like a child, but a grown man sets those ways aside. In the same way, the knowledge and gifts we have now are partial and will be replaced when something complete arrives.
He then describes our present sight as a dim reflection in a polished mirror, compared with the face-to-face clarity we will one day have. He closes by naming faith, hope, and love as the three things that remain, and declares that love is the greatest of them.
Context of 1 Corinthians 13:11-13
The letter is traditionally attributed to the apostle Paul, who wrote to the church he had founded in Corinth around the middle of the first century. The congregation included people from different social backgrounds who were arguing about which spiritual gifts mattered most and who was more spiritual than whom.
Verses 8 through 10 set up the contrast between temporary gifts such as prophecy and knowledge and the complete state that is coming. Verses 11 through 13 explain that contrast with the childhood illustration and the mirror image, then close with the lasting trio of faith, hope, and love.
1 Corinthians 13:11-13 Verse by Verse
1 Corinthians 13:4
Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud…
(WEB)
Paul describes love in patient and kind terms, showing what the greatest of the three looks like in daily relationships. It is a helpful companion to the verses that name love as lasting.
Romans 5:5
And hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
(WEB)
Paul writes that God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. It reminds us that the love Paul praises is a gift that God gives and keeps giving.
A Prayer Based on 1 Corinthians 13:11-13
Father, you know me fully even though I only see you in part. Help me to set aside the childish ways of comparing and competing, and to grow up into the kind of faith that trusts you with what I cannot yet understand. Teach me to hold onto hope when the answers are slow, and to let love shape the way I speak to the people around me.
Until the day I see you face to face, let love be the thing I practice most. Thank you that you are patient with my partial sight and that you keep loving me as I grow. Amen.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean that we see in a mirror dimly?
Paul is comparing our present knowledge of God to a blurred reflection in an ancient metal mirror. We can make out shapes and outlines but not the full picture. The face-to-face sight he describes is the clearer knowing that will come later.
Why does Paul say love is greater than faith and hope?
Faith and hope will be fulfilled when we see God and receive what we have hoped for, so they belong to the present stage of life. Love continues forever, which is why Paul names it as the greatest of the three.
Is Paul saying that spiritual gifts are no longer needed?
Paul is comparing temporary gifts with the complete state that is coming, but he does not say the gifts are worthless today. His main concern is that believers should value love above the gifts and not use them to compete with one another.
