1See what great love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world doesn't recognize us is that it did not recognize him.
2Dear friends, we are God’s children right now. We don’t yet know what we will be like in the future. But we do know that when he appears, we will be like him, because we will see him as he really is.
3Everyone who has this hope in Jesus keeps themselves pure, just as Jesus is pure.
4Everyone who sins also breaks God's law. In fact, sin is breaking God's law.
5You know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him.
6No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has truly seen Jesus or known him.
7Dear children, don’t let anyone mislead you. The person who does what is right is righteous, just as Jesus is righteous.
8The person who sins belongs to the devil, because the devil has been sinning since the beginning. The Son of God appeared to destroy the devil’s work.
9Anyone who is born of God does not continue to sin, because God's nature remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.
10This is how we know who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil: Anyone who does not do what is right is not from God, nor is anyone who does not love their brother or sister.
11For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
12Don't be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. Why did he murder him? Because Cain's actions were evil, and his brother's were righteous.
13My brothers and sisters, do not be surprised if the world hates you.
14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our fellow believers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
15Anyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life within them.
16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
17If someone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?
18My dear children, let’s not just say we love each other; let’s show it through our actions and with truth.
19This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and how we can reassure ourselves before him
20that even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.
21Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we can be confident before God.
22and we receive whatever we ask from him because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.
23This is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.
24Anyone who obeys his commands lives in God, and God lives in them. We know that God lives in us through the Spirit he gave us.