Comparison Of Tongues And Prophecy (14:1-25)
'Go on following after love, and go on being earnestly desirous of what is spiritual (spiritual things). But rather that you may prophesy.'
So they are first of all to go on pursuing love. And yet all he has said about love is not to put them off seeking what is spiritual, from seeking spiritual things. Love will seek spiritual gifts in the church for the blessing of all. Let them go on walking firmly in the path of love, and let them also go on earnestly desiring what is spiritual, including the gracious gifts of God he has described, in order that they may be used in love. And especially let them desire that they might prophesy. For now, if they heed his words, it will be for the right reason, because they love their brothers and sisters and long to benefit them. And of these gifts which will benefit the church as it gathers, prophecy is pre-eminent. For by that they will benefit most their fellow believers. And so he desires them to seek to prophesy above all else.
But why should we seek that which is in the sovereign hands of God? The answer lies in the nature of God's salvation. It is wholly God's free gift and wrought by God and yet men are to seek it and respond to it because that is the human side of the way in which God does things. So it is with His gifts. They are under His sovereign control and yet we are to seek them, not demandingly, but gratefully, because we seek the good of all. It reminds us constantly of our dependence on God.