The chapter
Simply A chapter about love, written into an argument about spiritual gifts. It says that the gifts the Corinthians were competing over are worth nothing without it, and then describes love almost entirely in verbs.
Context It is read at weddings and was not written for one. Chapter 12 ranks gifts and chapter 14 regulates them; this chapter sits between and tells a divided church what is missing.
Verses 4-7
Simply Fifteen statements, and almost all of them are things love does or refuses to do. Only two are adjectives.
Context Every failing listed here is one the letter has already accused this church of: envy, boasting, self-seeking, keeping score.
Verses 12-13
Simply The chapter ends by admitting how little is understood now, and by ranking three things without explaining the ranking.
Context A first-century mirror was polished bronze. The image it gave back was real and never sharp, which is the comparison being made.