1 Corinthians 13

“Charity Never Faileth”

Jesus Christ showed great love each day of His mortal life. He ultimately demonstrated His perfect love by willingly sacrificing His life for us. The Apostle Paul wrote in detail about Christlike love, or charity, and why we should want to obtain it. This lesson is intended to help you feel Jesus Christ’s pure love for you and to help you seek the gift of charity to feel that love for others.

Believing in each learner. One way to show love for each learner is to recognize and believe in their divine identity and purpose. Pray to see students as the Lord sees them.

Student preparation: Invite students to think about a family member, friend, or other individual they would like a better relationship with. Ask students to consider the effect that showing greater love toward this person could have on the relationship.

Possible Learning Activities

Our relationships with others

Invite students to silently reflect on their preparation for class and the following questions.

Think of someone you would like to have a better relationship with.

• Why would you like to improve this relationship?

• What have you done to help the relationship? What has worked? What has not worked?

• What effect do you think showing greater love could have on the relationship?

As you study 1 Corinthians 13, look for ways you can love others as the Savior does. Seek the inspiration of the Holy Ghost to know what you can do to apply what you are learning to your current circumstances.

The pure love of Jesus Christ

After teaching Church members in Corinth about spiritual gifts, the Apostle Paul said he would show them “a more excellent way” to live (1 Corinthians 12:31). Read 1 Corinthians 13:1–3, looking for this more excellent way.

• What do you know about charity that helps you understand why it is so important?

The Book of Mormon can help us better understand the importance of charity. Near the end of this ancient record, Moroni included some of his father Mormon’s words. Mormon outlined elements of charity and defined what it is (see Moroni 7:43–48).

Read Moroni 7:46–47, looking for what you can learn about charity.

Invite students to mark words or phrases that help them understand what charity is.

• What truths do you learn about charity from these verses?

Consider inviting students to write on the board truths they discovered from reading about charity. One truth they might identify is that charity is the pure love of Christ, which endures forever. Help students understand why it is important to have charity. Consider using the following statement and activity to help students do this.

President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency taught:

Charity, “the pure love of Christ” [Moroni 7:47], is not an act but a condition or state of being. Charity is attained through a succession of acts that result in a conversion. Charity is something one becomes.

(Dallin H. Oaks, “The Challenge to Become,” Ensign, Nov. 2000, 34) 

• How does President Oaks’s statement add to your understanding of charity?

Both Paul, in the New Testament, and Mormon, in the Book of Mormon, used similar words and phrases to describe charity. By understanding their words, we can know what to do and ultimately how to become more like Jesus Christ.

The following activity could be done as a class or displayed for students to complete on their own. If students are doing this activity individually, consider modeling step c by choosing one of the descriptions to rewrite together as a class.

1. Read 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 or Moroni 7:45, looking for how charity is described.

   Consider providing students with the statement by Elder Marvin J. Ashton found in the “Commentary and Background Information” section to read in addition to the scripture passages.

2. Choose two or three words or phrases that describe charity, and write them in your study journal.

3. Next to each description, write what it means in your own words. You may use any study tools available to you. For example, you might use a dictionary to look up definitions for terms like longsuffering or vaunt. Also write how this quality can help you become like the Savior.

• What do you learn about the Savior from the different descriptions you studied?

The perfect example

Jesus Christ is the perfect example of all the descriptions of charity. Using what you wrote about charity in your study journal, think of examples in the scriptures when Jesus Christ demonstrated His pure love in this way. The following images might help you connect the Savior to the phrases you studied.

Consider displaying several images of Christ around the classroom. Invite students to think about which descriptions of charity they feel match each image and why.

• How did the Savior show charity in each of these situations?

• How have you personally witnessed the Savior’s love for you or others?

• How does thinking about the Savior’s love for you affect your feelings for Him?

Living a life of charity

The prophet Mormon finished his teachings on charity with an urgent invitation to act. Read Moroni 7:48, looking for this invitation.

• What words or phrases help you understand what it takes to receive the gift of charity?

Throughout His life, Jesus Christ showed that it is possible to have charity in any situation. Try to imagine what impact it would have on your life if you followed the Savior’s example of charity in all situations. Think of the specific relationship you thought of at the start of the lesson. Consider how having more charity would bless that relationship.

As students answer the following questions, encourage them to follow through with the choices they make.

• What can you do to demonstrate more charity?

• What will you do to show Heavenly Father that you desire His help?

Testify that Heavenly Father wants to bless us with the gift of charity to help us become more like Him and His Son. Heavenly Father will help us develop charity as we turn to Him.

Commentary and Background Information

How can we show charity for others?

Elder Marvin J. Ashton (1915–94) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

Charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn’t handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another’s weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other.

(Marvin J. Ashton, “The Tongue Can Be a Sharp Sword,” Ensign, May 1992, 19)

President Thomas S. Monson (1927–2018) taught about charity in his general conference message “Charity Never Faileth” (Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2010, 122–25). You may want to watch the video of this message, available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org, from time code 15:05 to 17:22.

Why will charity, the pure love of Jesus Christ, never fail?

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

True charity … is shown perfectly and purely in Christ’s unfailing, ultimate, and atoning love for us. … It is that charity—his pure love for us—without which we would be nothing, hopeless, of all men and women most miserable. Truly, those found possessed of the blessings of his love at the last day—the Atonement, the Resurrection, eternal life, eternal promise—surely it shall be well with them. …

Life has its share of fears and failures. Sometimes things fall short. Sometimes people fail us, or economies or businesses or governments fail us. But one thing in time or eternity does not fail us—the pure love of Christ.

(Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant [1997], 336–37)

Supplemental Learning Activities

What motivates me to act?

As an alternate way to begin the lesson, consider inviting a few students to act out scenarios in which the person acting could have different motives. Invite the class to guess the action and give reasons for why a person might choose this action. Some potential scenarios could include these:

• A young woman hands a tithing envelope to the bishop.

• A young man gives food to a family that is homeless.

Students could then discuss why the motives behind our actions matter. Students could watch the video “Charity: An Example of the Believers” (4:50) to see an example of young women motivated by charity.

Video portraying Paul teaching

Toward the end of the lesson, consider showing the video “Charity Never Faileth” (3:32), available on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. The video reviews all that Paul taught in 1 Corinthians 13 and can help prepare the students to answer the final two questions in the lesson.

Putting away childish things

Invite students to talk about different activities that they loved as children but are no longer interested in. Use Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13:11 to help students see that as we “grow up unto the Lord” ( Helaman 3:21), we can replace old habits with choices influenced by charity, the pure love of Christ (see Moroni 7:47).

Helpful statements on this topic can be found in Sister Anne C. Pingree’s message “To Grow Up unto the Lord” (Ensign or Liahona, May 2006, 74–76).