1 Corinthians 13:1-3

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

[1] Though  I speak  with the tongues  of men  and  of angels,  and  have  not  charity,  I am become  as sounding  brass,  or  a tinkling  cymbal.  [2] And  though  I have  the gift of prophecy,  and  understand  all  mysteries,  and  all  knowledge;  and  though  I have  all  faith,  so  that I could remove  mountains,  and  have  not  charity,  I am  nothing.  [3] And  though  all  to feed  the poor, and  though  I give  body  to  and  have  not  charity,  it profiteth me  nothing. 

What does 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

In these first three verses Paul showed that love is superior to the spiritual gifts he listed in chapter12.
"It is hard to escape the implication that what is involved here are two opposing views as to what it means to be "spiritual." For the Corinthians it meant "tongues, Wisdom of Solomon , knowledge" (and pride), but without a commensurate concern for truly Christian behavior. For Paul it meant first of all to be full of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, which therefore meant to behave as those "sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be his holy people" ( 1 Corinthians 1:2), of which the ultimate expression always is to "walk in love." Thus, even though these sentences reflect the immediate context, Paul"s concern is not simply with their over-enthusiasm about tongues but with the larger issue of the letter as a whole, where their view of spirituality has caused them to miss rather widely both the gospel and its ethics." [1]
"All four classes of gifts (xii28) are included here: the ecstatic in 1 Corinthians 13:1; the teaching (propheteia) and the wonder-working (pistis) gifts in 1 Corinthians 13:2; and the administrative in 1 Corinthians 13:3." [2]
"It has well been said that love is the "circulatory system" of the body of Christ." [3]