1 Corinthians 13:12

Plain English Version

This is what that story means. Now we only understand a little bit. It is like we are looking at things in a dark mirror now. But the time will come when everything will be clear to us, like we are looking straight at them, not in a mirror. Right now we only know a little bit, but at that time we will know everything properly, just like God knows us properly.

Cross References

Genesis 32:30

Jacob knew that God talked to him through that man, so he said, “I met God, and I’m still alive.” Then Jacob named that place Penuel. That name means God’s face.

Matthew 5:8

Some people never want to do bad things. These people will see God, and they will be really happy.

Romans 8:18

But don’t worry about the trouble we get now. Later God will make everything so good for us that we will not even think about the trouble we get now.

1 Corinthians 13:11

I’ll use a picture story about myself to show you what I mean. When I was a little kid I talked like a little kid, and I thought about things the way a little kid thinks about things. I only understood what a little kid can understand. But then I grew up, and now I’m a man, and I’ve stopped thinking like a little kid.

1 Corinthians 8:3

But if you love God, then God really knows you, like you are his good friend.

Philippians 3:12

I’m not saying that I have already done all that. I’m not saying that I’m properly good now. But, you see, Jesus Christ picked me to be one of his people, so I’m trying hard to be the sort of person that he wants me to be.

James 1:23

Don’t be like a man that looks at his face in a mirror, but then he just walks away, and he forgets about it. He doesn’t do anything to make himself look any better. Well, if you hear God’s word, but you don’t do the things it says, you are just like that man, because you forget that word, and you don’t do anything to make yourself any better.