What does "I am nothing" mean in 1 Corinthians 13:2?

Whosoever Will, The Most Impressive Resume in the Bible: Tongues of men and of angels. Not just the gift they were proudest of, but that gift raised to a level no one in Corinth had ever hit. The gift of prophecy. Understanding of all mysteries. All knowledge, the complete set, nothing withheld. Faith enough to move mountains, which is the exact measure Jesus Himself used for great faith. Giving away every possession you own to feed the poor. And then the last one, which no one can top: handing over your own body to be burned. Read that as a resume. There has never been a better one. It is not a list of ordinary Christian service, it is the ceiling of everything a person could possibly do or be given. Every item is genuinely supernatural or genuinely sacrificial. Any one of them would make a man famous in Corinth. Paul stacks all seven. Then he says that without love, the man holding that resume is nothing. Not diminished. Not less effective. Not still good but lacking a certain warmth. Nothing. The Greek is ouden. Zero. Paul does not say the gifts become nothing, notice. He says I become nothing. The gifts stay real. The tongues are still tongues, the prophecy still prophecy, the mountain still moves. The man operating them is a cipher. Scripture, King James Version: 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 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.".

Verified. Every scripture quotation on this page has been checked word-for-word against the King James text. Last reviewed 2026-10-18.