1 If I speak the languages of men and of angels, but do not have love,
I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy,
and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if I have all faith, so that I can move mountains,
but do not have love, I am nothing.
3 And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor,
and if I give my body to be burned,
but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient; love is kind. Love does not envy;
is not boastful; is not conceited;
5 does not act improperly; is not selfish;
is not provoked; does not keep a record of wrongs;
6 finds no joy in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends.
But as for prophecies, they will come to an end;
as for languages, they will cease;
as for knowledge, it will come to an end.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10 But when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end.
11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child,
I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.
When I became a man, I put aside childish things.
12 For now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face.
Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.
13 Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love.
But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13
A heart empty, sad, and cold
Longing for a heart of gold
An examination of the self
Longing for a heart of health
Do not hold yourself to blame
Then you'll create a heart of shame
Love is not boastful nor conceited
Don't let your desire be defeated
It is not selfish or provoked
But should remain equally yoked
It keeps no records of your wrongs
No matter the hurt felt for so long
Whether I know fully or in part
The love residing in my heart
I shall learn to rejoice in truth
Relinquishing my immature youth
For a love I cannot envy
But does a soul exist within me?
Without love, nothing can be known
And so I'll spend my days alone
In learning how I'll bear the weight
I can't afford to hesitate
And now these three remain
The faith and hope to face the pain
Yet, the greatest of these is love
Only to find standards I fall short of
The standard of original sin
Still I know love never ends
Love is patient, love is kind
It's something I have yet to find
But I intend to discover
That I am nothing but a lover.
