What does it profit if I give all my goods to the poor but have no love?
Giving all one's goods to feed the poor profits nothing if love is absent. The text says such a sacrifice, even giving one's body to be burned, is all for nothing without love. Everything said, thought, and done must rest on the premise of God-centered agape love.
Les explains that in verse 3, even someone who bestows all his goods to feed the poor, or gives his body to be burned as a complete sacrifice, if he has not love, it is all for nothing. Les emphasizes that everything we say, think, and do—toward family, wife, neighbors, or business partners—must be based on the premise of love. He clarifies that this love is not the erotic love Hollywood promotes but agape love, which is God-centered. Only the true believer can really have and exercise this kind of love; the unsaved world cannot comprehend it. Paul says this love is available for us to latch on to. Les then moves into verse 4, where love's attributes are explained: love suffers long, is kind, does not envy or covet, does not vaunt itself, is not puffed up, does not behave unseemly, never seeks her own, and is not easily provoked.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
What does 1 Corinthians 13:3 say about giving everything to the poor or giving your body to be burned without love?
First Corinthians 13:3 teaches that even if a person bestows all his goods to feed the poor, or gives his body to be burned as a complete sacrifice, without love it is all for nothing. Such actions must be based on God-centered agape love, which only the true believer can truly exercise.
Does everything I do with family and neighbors need to be based on love?
Yes. Everything we say, think, and do with regard to family, spouse, neighbors, and business partners must be based on love. This is agape love, which is God-centered and only the true believer can truly exercise. It is not the erotic love Hollywood promotes.