Love Never Ends

February 17, 2026 • Steve Torres

1 Corinthians 13:8.jpg

“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 13:8–10, ESV)

Paul makes an amazing claim: “Love never ends” (1 Corinthians 13:8). In a chapter surrounded by discussions of spiritual gifts, this is not sentimental language. It is theological reality. Prophecies will pass away. Tongues will cease. Partial knowledge will fade. But love will remain because love is not merely a tool of the Christian life; it is the eternal order of God’s kingdom.

Scripture consistently teaches that salvation is restoration into right relationship. Through Christ, God reconciles us to Himself and to one another (2 Corinthians 5:18–20; Ephesians 2:13–16). The cross is not merely about forgiveness in isolation; it is about restoring right relation between God and humanity. Jesus Himself ties love directly to obedience: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Love is therefore not emotional intensity, but covenant faithfulness expressed in right relationship.

This is why love is the “better way.” Spiritual gifts communicate truth about God, but love is participation in the reality behind that message. In this life, we speak and understand in part. We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). When we speak about the resurrection, our adoption as sons, or the final restoration of creation, we speak from revealed truth, not from direct experience. Because our knowledge is partial and dependent on revelation, love does not boast or insist on its own way (1 Corinthians 13:4–5; 1 Corinthians 4:7). Love recognizes that everything we know comes from God.

Paul’s point is not that spiritual gifts are bad. They are necessary for the church now. But they are temporary. Faith will become sight. Hope will become fulfillment. But love will remain, because love is the relational structure of eternity (1 Corinthians 13:13; 1 John 3:2).

Love endures because love is what salvation is restoring us into: right relationship with God and right relationship with one another. Love is not just the command of Christ; it is the future reality of His kingdom breaking into the present.