1 John
Chapter 3
1 Look at how much love God has given us, so we can be called God’s children. That’s why the world doesn’t recognize us, because it didn’t recognize him.
2 Friends, now we are children of God, and it’s not yet clear what we will become. But we know that when he comes, we will be like him because we will see him as he truly is.
3 Everyone who has this hope in him makes himself clean, just as God is clean.
4 Anyone who sins also breaks the law, because sin is breaking the law.
5 You know he appeared to remove our sins, and he has no sin.
6 Anyone who stays true to God does not sin; anyone who sins has not seen or known God.
7 Kids, don’t let anyone trick you: if someone does what is right, they are good, just like God is good.
8 Anyone who sins belongs to the devil because the devil has been sinning from the start. The Son of God came to destroy the devil’s work.
9 Anyone born of God does not keep on sinning because God’s nature stays in them; they can’t keep sinning because they are born of God.
10 This shows who are God’s children and who are the devil’s children: anyone who does not act righteously is not from God, nor is the one who does not love their brother.
11 This is the message you have heard from the start: we should love each other.
12 Unlike Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because his actions were bad, and his brother’s were good.
13 Do not be surprised, my friends, if the world hates you.
14 We understand that we have moved from death to life because we love our fellow believers. Whoever does not love their sibling remains in death.
15 Anyone who hates their brother or sister is a killer, and you know that no killer has eternal life in them.
16 We understand God’s love because He gave up His life for us, and we should be willing to give up our lives for others.
17 If someone has what they need in this world and sees their brother in need but does not care for him, how can God’s love be in that person?
18 My dear children, let’s not love just with words or speech, but with actions and truth.
19 We know we belong to the truth, and we can calm our hearts before God.
20 If we feel guilty, God is bigger than our feelings and knows everything.
21 Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we have trust in God.
22 Whatever we ask for, we get from God because we follow his commands and do what makes him happy.
23 This is God’s command: we must believe in his Son, Jesus Christ, and love each other as he told us to.
24 Whoever follows his commands lives in God, and God in him. This is how we know God remains in us: by the Spirit he gave us.