Love never fails

“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
We all know that we can’t take anything material to heaven when we go. Instead, we are to lay up treasures in heaven (Matt. 6:20), by investing in things of the kingdom while we are here. But did you realise that there are even some spiritual things that won’t count for anything in heaven?
Here, Paul describes three things that will be irrelevant in heaven, and all of them are gifts of the Spirit that people chase after today. They are prophecy, tongues, and knowledge. Prophecy won’t be needed; prophecy is the forth-telling of God’s word. In heaven, God will speak directly to us; we won’t need a prophet to act as a middle-man. Tongues won’t be needed; there won’t be any language barriers in heaven. We will all understand everyone and be understood by everyone, and we will be able to praise God adequately using a new vocublary. (It also follows that the gift of interpretation of tongues also won’t be needed!) Finally, knowledge won’t be needed. We will all have perfect knowledge of all things. We’ll understand everything from how to cook the perfect meal, to the intricacies of quantum mechanics. We won’t need anybody to teach us anything, except one thing: the depth and breadth and length and height of God’s love.
You see, when we get to heaven, God’s love will be one thing that we will still find unfathomable. We will continually be finding out more and more about His love – and it is one thing we can reciprocate in turn. In heaven, many things become irrelevant. But love will be more important than ever. This is why ‘love never fails’, and why we should seek to develop it in our lives while we are here.