“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.” 1 Corinthians 13:4. The purest joy springs from the deepest humiliation. The strongest and noblest characters are built on the foundation of patience, love, and submission to God’s will. (AA 319.1) MC VC

Charity “doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil.” 1 Corinthians 13:5. Christ-like love places the most favorable construction on the motives and acts of others. It does not needlessly expose their faults; it does not listen eagerly to unfavorable reports, but seeks rather to bring to mind the good qualities of others. (AA 319.2) MC VC

Love “rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:6, 7. This love “never faileth.” 1 Corinthians 13:8. It can never lose its value; it is a heavenly attribute. As a precious treasure, it will be carried by its possessor through the portals of the city of God. (AA 319.3) MC VC

“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” 1 Corinthians 13:13. (AA 319.4) MC VC

In the lowering of the moral standard among the Corinthian believers, there were those who had given up some of the fundamental features of their faith. Some had gone so far as to deny the doctrine of the resurrection. Paul met this heresy with a very plain testimony regarding the unmistakable evidence of the resurrection of Christ. He declared that Christ, after His death, “rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,”(1 Corinthians 15:4) after which “He was seen of Cephas, then of the Twelve: after that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, He was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all He was seen of me also.” 1 Corinthians 15:5~8. (AA 319.5) MC VC