1 Corinthians 14:1

διώκετε. Pursue love, as the main object of your lives. Be anxious for other spiritual gifts as desirable, if it be God’s will to grant them. For ζηλοῦτε see 1 Corinthians 12:31. The best gifts (see note there) were those that were within the reach of all. Still there was no reason why a Christian should not seek other special gifts from God by prayer. See 1 Corinthians 14:13, and James 1:5.

ἵνα προφητεύητε. The gift of prophecy, as is abundantly evident from the whole of this section, was not confined to the prediction of future events. As Kingsley remarks, the prophet was ‘not only a fore-teller but a forth-teller,’ one who communicates the moral and spiritual truths which he has received by direct revelation from God. ἴνα cannot be in order that here. It is almost equivalent to the infinitive. ‘Seek that ye may prophesy,’ i.e. make it your main desire to prophesy.