1 John 4:7-12, 19-21

Beloved, 

let us love one another

because love is of God; 

everyone who loves is begotten of God

and has knowledge of God. 

Those who do not love have known nothing of God, 

for God is love. 

God’s love was revealed in our midst in this way:

by sending the Only Begotten into the world,

that we might have faith through the Anointed One.

Love, then, consists in this:

not that we have loved God

but that God has loved us

and has sent the Only Begotten

to be an offering for our sins. 

Beloved, 

if God has loved us so,

we must have the same love for one another.

No one has ever seen God.

Yet if we love one another,

God dwells in us,

and God’s love is brought to perfection in us.

We love because God first loved us. If you say you love God but hate your sister or brother, you are a liar. For you cannot love God, whom you have not seen, if you hate your neighbour, whom you have seen. If we love God, we should love our sisters and brothers as well; we have this commandment from God.