Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Our shout-out today goes to Brad Guck from Perham, MN. Thanks for your partnership in Project23. We cannot do this without donors like you.

Our text today is 1 Corinthians 13:4-5.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful. — 1 Corinthians 13:4-5

Are you being puffed up—or are you building others up?

That is Paul's question.

Previously in this letter, he repeatedly used the word physioō (φυσιόω)—"to puff up," to inflate with pride (1 Corinthians 4:6, 4:18–19, 5:2, 8:1). Knowledge puffs up, he said, but love builds up.

Now, in chapter 13, he shows us what that looks like.

If you want to know whether your motivation is right, don't look at your puffed-up gifts. Look at whether they are building others up.

Paul defines the loving use of our gifts—but not the way we expect.

He does not start with emotion in this text

He starts with restraint.

Love is patient. Love is kind.

And then he turns negative.

Love does not envy. Love does not boast. It is not arrogant. It is not rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable. It keeps no record of wrongs.

The word "arrogant" in this text carries the same idea Paul has been correcting all along—puffed up. Inflated. Swollen with self-importance.

This chapter is a direct confrontation with the puffed-up pride behind their spiritual gifts within the church.

Corinth envied the visible gifts. They boasted about their spirituality. They divided over leaders. They insisted on their rights. They flaunted freedom. They ranked one another.

They were puffed up.

And Paul says that none of that builds up.

Notice how many of these traits target the ego.

Envy compares. Boasting advertises. Arrogance inflates. Rudeness disregards. Insisting on your own way centers your will. Irritability reveals entitlement. Resentment stores ammunition.

Love dismantles every one of those.

Love does not puff up because it is not focused on self.

Love builds up because it is focused on others.

Here is the point: you can operate in powerful gifts and still be deeply inflated. But if others are not strengthened, encouraged, and built up through you, it is not love.

And without love, nothing else matters.

DO THIS:

Identify one area where you've been easily irritated or defensive. Instead of protecting your ego, intentionally build someone else up this week—with encouragement, patience, or quiet service.

ASK THIS:

1. Am I using my knowledge or gifting in a way that puffs me up—or builds others up?
2. Where is pride disguising itself as conviction?
3. Would those closest to me say I strengthen them—or strain them?

PRAY THIS:

Lord, expose pride that inflates my ego. Guard me from being puffed up by knowledge, success, or gifting. Make me an instrument of love that builds others up for the glory of Christ. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Humble and Kind"

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Our shout-out today goes to Daniel DeGrote from Corona, CA. Thanks for your partnership in Project23. We cannot do this without donors like you.

Our text today is 1 Corinthians 13:1-3.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. — 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

You can preach powerfully, speak mysteriously, give sacrificially—and still be nothing. Because the issue is not the size of the gift. It is the motive behind it.

That's not hyperbole.

That's the truth of Scripture.

Paul has just finished correcting their obsession with spiritual gifts in chapter 12. They loved power. Sought visibility. Pursued manifestations.

Now he dismantles it. But he doesn't minimize the gifts. He maximizes them. Tongues of angels. Mountain-moving faith. Prophetic power. Extreme martyrdom. The most impressive spiritual résumé imaginable.

And then he says:

Without love? Noise. Nothing. No gain.

This is a devastating text for those who choose to be seen for the wrong reasons.

You see, the church in Corinth equated spirituality with intensity. Spectacle. Status.

Paul says the metric isn't the measure of your power. It is the measure of your love. And love here is not an emotional sentiment. It's not a personality style. It is the measure of spiritual authenticity.

You see, a believer can defend doctrine and still destroy people. You can serve publicly and still resent privately. You can sacrifice visibly and still crave recognition.

And if love is not the driving motivation—self-giving love shaped by Christ—the whole purpose of the gift is lost.

Notice the repetition Paul drives home on these points:

"I am a noisy gong…"
"I am nothing…"
"I gain nothing…"

Not your gift is nothing.

You are nothing, because the motivation is wrong.

That's a severe correction from Paul, in the love chapter of the Bible. And it's meant to be corrective

Because gifts can look impressive to crowds, but only love—rightly motivated love—actually builds the church.

Gifts can draw attention to ourselves. But gifts wrapped in the motivation of self-giving love draw people to Christ.

Jesus didn't just display power.

He laid down his life in self-giving love.

And that is the standard.

Do you need to address your motivation today?

Examine your service, leadership, and ministry this week. Don't just ask, "Was I effective?" Ask, "What was driving me?" and "Was I loving?"

ASK THIS:

1. Am I more concerned with being impressive or being faithful in love?
2. Where might pride be hiding behind visible spiritual activity?
3. Would the people closest to me describe me as loving—or simply competent?

PRAY THIS:

Father, guard me from giftedness without love. Expose motives that seek recognition instead of Christ. Form in me the self-giving love of Jesus so that what flows from me reflects him. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Better Word"

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Our shout-out today goes to Jim Davis from Smyrna, GA. Thanks for your partnership in Project23. We cannot do this without donors like you.

Our text today is 1 Corinthians 12:21-31.

The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts.

And I will show you a still more excellent way. — 1 Corinthians 12:21-31

Insecurity says, "I don't matter." We addressed insecurity in the body last time.

But pride says, "I don't need you." And this is the danger Paul confronts in this section. Prideful independence from the body when interdependence is God's design.

"But God has so composed the body…"

Notice the word "composed". It is the Greek word sugkeraō, which means to mix, blend carefully, or combine into a unified whole. It was used of mixing ingredients so that they form something inseparable. God has not merely assembled the church like loose disparate parts (like a junk drawer); he has blended it with deliberate care, giving greater honor where honor might otherwise be lacking.

So why compose the body this way? He tells us why:

"That there may be no division in the body."

He composes with a mission— to preserve unity.

Following this is one of the most probing lines in the chapter:

"If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together."

That is not sentiment. It is a spiritual reality. A blending so perfect that you cannot be indifferent to the suffering or honoring of another believer.

This is countercultural.

We are trained to compete, to compare, to isolate success, and to distance ourselves from pain.

The body functions properly only when all its parts depend on one another.

God has already blended you into this body.

So experience it.

Step toward the parts you are tempted to overlook. Lean into the people you think you can do without. Let yourself feel their joy and carry their burdens.

You do not just attend a body that was composed.

You are part of it.

DO THIS:

This week, intentionally celebrate someone else's gift and step toward someone else's pain. Refuse both envy and indifference.

ASK THIS:

1. Do I secretly believe I am more essential than others?
2. Where have I withheld care from someone because their gift differs from mine?
3. Do I truly rejoice when others are honored—or do I compare?

PRAY THIS:

Father, thank you for composing your church with wisdom. Forgive my pride and my indifference. Teach me to care deeply, rejoice sincerely, and depend humbly on the gifts you have given to others. For the glory of Christ. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"They'll Know We Are Christians"