The first disciples of Christ were commanded to love but they were also given spiritual gifts enabling them to perform extraordinary works such as healing and speaking in foreign languages they had never learned to preach the gospel to strangers. These powers, however, would in due course be withdrawn so today no-one has any of these spiritual gifts. Nevertheless, we can all have those which still remain: faith, hope, and charity - but the greatest of these is charity. Faith is belief that God will perform his promises; hope is the eager anticipation of their fulfilment; and love is the virtue which will cover a multitude of sins and which God has shown to us in the sacrifice of his beloved Son (John 3:16).Waiting for response for John 3:16
Verses 4-8
Waiting for response for 1 Corinthians 13:4-8God is love and he requires us to love. His first commandment is that we love him with all our being, and the second is that we love our neighbour as ourselves. This love, defined in our reading today and translated “charity”, is not the love of popular song but selfless devotion to others, seeking their welfare, free from evil and iniquity, rejoicing in the truth, and motivated by faith and hope in God’s promises. It is only by learning God’s truth from his word that we may manifest this love in our lives.