- See what love
the Father has bestowed on us,
enabling us to be called the children of God,
and that is what we are.
If the world does not recognize us,
that is because it did not know him. - Beloved,
we are God’s children now.
What we shall be
has not yet been revealed.
However, we do know that when he appears
we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he really is.
Everyone who has this hope in him
keeps himself pure,
just as he is pure. - Everyone who sins breaks the law,
for sin is lawlessness. - Everyone who sins comes from the devil,
for the devil has been a sinner
from the very beginning.
The Son of God appeared for this very purpose:
to destroy the work of the devil. - For from the beginning
you have heard the message
that we should love one another. - This is how we know what love is:
he laid down his life for us,
and we in turn must be prepared
to lay down our lives for our brethren. - If anyone is rich in worldly possessions
and sees a brother in need
but refuses to open his heart,
how can the love of God abide in him? - Dear children,
let us love not in word or speech
but in deed and truth. - Beloved,
if our hearts do not condemn us,
we can approach God with confidence
and receive from him whatever we ask,
because we obey his commandments
and do whatever is pleasing to him. - All those who keep his commandments abide in him,
and he abides in them.
And the proof that he abides in us
is the Spirit that he has given us.
May the Lord, our God, be with us, just as he was with our fathers; may he not leave us or abandon us. You did not choose me.
Rather, I chose you.
And I appointed you
to go out and bear fruit,
fruit that will remain,
so that the Father may give you
whatever you ask him in my name.Next verse!With image