1 Corinthians 13:11-13 teaches that spiritual maturity means moving from partial, childish understanding toward full knowledge, and that faith, hope, and love are the three things that last, with love greatest of all. Paul uses the image of a child growing into an adult, then the image of a dim mirror giving way to seeing face to face, to show that the way we understand God now is real but incomplete.
These verses sit at the heart of Paul’s famous chapter on love, written to a congregation in Corinth that prized dramatic spiritual gifts like speaking in tongues and prophecy. The surrounding verses explain that those gifts are useful for now but will one day be set aside, while love continues forever.
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 memory of childhood. A child speaks, feels, and reasons in a simple way, and that is fine for a child. When he grows up, he puts those childish ways aside. In the same way, the partial knowledge we have of God and of spiritual truth now is not the final picture.
He then turns to the present and the future. Right now we see only a blurred reflection, like an old metal mirror. One day we will see face to face and know fully, just as we are fully known by God. The passage closes by naming the three things that remain: faith, hope, and love, and it declares love to be the greatest.
Context of 1 Corinthians 13:11-13
First Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul to a church he had founded in the bustling Greek port city of Corinth. The Corinthian believers were gifted and eager, but they were also divided and proud, often treating spiritual gifts as status symbols. Paul addresses these problems throughout the letter.
Chapter 13 interrupts a discussion of spiritual gifts in chapters 12 and 14 to show that love is the measure by which every gift must be judged. Verses 8 through 10 explain that gifts such as prophecy and knowledge are partial and temporary, which sets up the childhood illustration in verse 11 and the mirror image in verse 12.
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 how love behaves: patient, kind, and not boastful. These qualities give practical shape to the greatest of the three virtues named in verse 13.
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 explains that God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. This connects the lasting love of verse 13 with the living presence of God in believers.
A Prayer Based on 1 Corinthians 13:11-13
Lord, I know that I see you only in part, like a reflection in a cloudy mirror. Thank you that this is not the end of the story. Help me to put away the childish ways of pride and impatience, and to grow into the maturity you desire for me. Teach me to trust you more fully, to hope in what you have promised, and above all to love the people you have placed around me. Remind me that love is what lasts. Amen.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does “we see in a mirror, dimly” mean in 1 Corinthians 13:12?
Ancient mirrors were usually polished metal and gave a blurry, distorted image. Paul uses this to describe our current partial understanding of God. The contrast with seeing “face to face” shows that a clearer view is still to come.
Why does Paul say love is greater than faith and hope?
Faith and hope belong to this life, where we trust God and wait for what he has promised. When that promise is fulfilled, faith and hope will be complete, but love continues forever. That permanence is why Paul calls it the greatest.
How can I apply 1 Corinthians 13:11 to my own growth as a Christian?
Verse 11 invites you to recognize that the way you thought and acted earlier in your faith was appropriate to that stage. Now you can look honestly at habits that no longer fit your maturity. Ask God to help you set them aside as you grow.
