Sabbath School Lesson for August 8-14, 2026
Introduction of Lesson 7, A Portrait of Love
Memory Text: “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV
Paul had been expressing in his epistle their need for love, in order for a true difference to be felt in Corinth. But, love was not an easy concept for the Greco-Roman mind to understand. Even the Jews grappled with it to some extent. All of them had difficulty practicing the kind of divine, merciful love needed for their church to be spiritually vibrant and growing.
Therefore, the apostle gave them a precise definition of what godly love looks like. This profound passage, 1 Corinthians 13, has become known as the “love chapter”. It gives us a portrait of true love, as revealed in the loving ministry and sacrificial death of Jesus, their Savior.
The chapter begins with the supremacy of love, then it presents the characteristics of love, and at the end of the chapter, we see the enduring quality of love.
This week, we’ll explore:
- Sunday: The Essentialness of Love
- Monday: What Love Does
- Tuesday: What Love Does Not Do
- Wednesday: A Portrait of Jesus
- Thursday: Faith, Hope, and Love
Sunday: The Essentialness of Love
Beginning with a mention of tongues, a spiritual gift highly valued in their church at the time, Paul reminded the Corinthians that their communication, even heaven-sent as it might be, is useless when it is not motivated by love.
Paul said the same of all spiritual gifts. No matter how much they prophesied, how much faith, understanding, or generosity they had, if love was not behind it, it had no value to the church or to themselves.
Known as agape love, the kind of divine grace and mercy that comes only from God, it was shown to be essential to their Christian unity and witness to the world.
Verses for reflection and discussion:
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
- How would this declaration have shown the necessity for love to the Corinthians?
- What does it tell us today about how our spiritual gifts should be used?
Matthew 24:12
- How will we know there is a lack of love in the last days?
- Why will love finally be so hard to find?
Monday: What Love Does
In the heart of the love chapter, verses 4-7, we find the characteristics of love that help us form a picture in our minds of what it looks like in the life of a true believer of God. The positive attributes of love are clearly seen as:
- being patient and forbearing with one another,
- showing kindness, compassion, and mercy to everyone,
- rejoicing in the truth (being known as a joyful, happy person),
- is resilient, despite the trials and difficulties of life,
- is known to look for the good in others,
- is focused on hoping and believing in a good outcome for every situation.
Verses for reflection and discussion:
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 and Galatians 5:22, 23
- What fruits of the spirit are found in the love chapter?
- What fruits are needed more in your church, or in you as an individual?
- What can we do to increase the likelihood of getting these fruits of love?
Tuesday: What Love Does Not Do
In order to have a full picture of what love looks like, the Corinthians needed to know some of the things loving people did not do. They would no doubt have seen themselves, in some way, as practicing one or more of these unlovely behaviors. Asking God to help them overcome these negative traits would cause them to grow into more loving individuals and into a more loving, welcoming church.
They would not be:
- jealous of each other’s spiritual gifts,
- boastful of their accomplishments,
- arrogant or puffed up with themselves (“full of themselves”),
- rude in word and actions,
- selfish,
- angry, or easily irritated,
- unforgiving, keeping a record of those who had wronged them.
- delighting in the faults and mistakes of others, instead of helping them do better.
Verses for reflection and discussion:
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
- What particular descriptions of what love didn’t look like would probably have been noticed most in the Corinthian church?
- Why was it necessary for Paul to include such negative descriptions of what love does not look like or do, and how can this list help us today be more loving?
Wednesday: A Portrait of Jesus
There are many verses about Jesus throughout the gospels that reveal Him to be a model of love. Looking at the life and ministry of Jesus should inspire us to be the loving kind of person He showed Himself to be.
John, the close disciple of Jesus who lived the longest, felt God’s love so deeply that he declared that God IS love in 1 John 4:8. Jesus was the personification of love and focusing on Him will help us reflect agape love, that most essential fruit of the Spirit.
Divine love, or agape love, is patient (1 Timothy 1:16). Jesus was kind (1 Peter 2:3), rejoiced in the truth (John 15:9-11), endured all things (Hebrews 12:2, 3), and believed in and saw good in others (Acts 9:15). All of these descriptions fit Paul’s portrait of love in 1 Corinthians 13. Being a sincere follower of Jesus will transform us into more loving Christians.
Verses for reflection and discussion:
1 John 4:7-13, 19-21
- Why does John promote the love of God so heavily in these verses?
- What part does the Holy Spirit play in perfecting God’s love in our lives?
Thursday: Faith, Hope, and Love
Paul convinced the Corinthians of their need for love by pointing out the discord and divisions that come from not loving as we should. He also gave them a full checklist of love’s characteristics that should have made it easier to choose and develop love within the congregation.
At the end of the love chapter, Paul encourages us to think of the lasting nature of love. Faith and hope are greatly needed this side of heaven. They help us survive the worst trials we may be called upon to endure. But love is a quality we’ll need to maintain throughout eternity, if the universe is ever to be rid of sin entirely.
Therefore, Paul could confidently declare love to be greater than faith and hope. By striving through the Holy Spirit to be more loving, we, along with the Corinthians, will find ourselves becoming more and more like Jesus our Lord.
Having more love should be our most-desired attainment. If God is love, as we are told, we must have more of His divine love in our lives.
Verses for reflection and discussion:
1 Corinthians 13:8-12
- Why are faith and hope so important to us now?
- Why will faith and hope, and some of our spiritual gifts, not be so important after Jesus comes and we are in heaven?
1 Corinthians 13:13
- Can we have love without having faith and hope?
- Can we have faith and hope without being loving?
Friday: Final Thoughts
When Paul described love in 1 Corinthians 13, he often used verbs, in addition to adjectives. This reminds us that love is not only an emotion, but an active way of living our lives.
In 1904, the Christian author, Ellen G. White, recommended we read the love chapter every day to keep our hearts centered on what it means to love. She further had this to say about love:
“We have an abundance of sermonizing. What is most needed…is love for perishing souls, that love which comes in rich currents from the throne of God. True Christianity diffuses love through the whole being. It touches every vital part, the brain, the heart, the helping hands, the feet, enabling men to stand firmly where God requires them to stand, so that they will not make crooked paths for their feet, let the lame be turned out of the way. The burning, consuming love of Christ for perishing souls is the life of the whole system of Christianity.” Lift Him Up, p. 134.
Next Week: The Power of Christ’s Resurrection
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