DOES LOVE EVER FAIL?

Some Christians argue that if we truly exercise the courage to love, love will never fail to accomplish its purpose:

• Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. (1 Corinthians 13:8 NIV)

Doesn’t this verse settle the issue? I don’t think so. The Bible contains many examples where love did fail. For example, our primary exemplar of love, Jesus, was hated, rejected, and murdered. He also warned that this would happen to us, not because we are acting in an un-Christlike manner, but because we are:

• "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.” (John 15:18-20)

Jesus then added:

• “They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.” (John 16:2-3)

How then are we to reconcile these facts with the teaching that “love never fails?”

Instead, the ESV reads, “Love never ends,” and for good reason. Just look at the context:

• Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. (1 Corinthians 13:8 ESV)

Paul contrasts love with prophecies, tongues, and prophetic words of knowledge, which will come to an end, while love will endure into heaven.