3 See what great love^(A) the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!^(B) And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.^{(C) 2} Dear friends,^(D) now we are children of God,^(E) and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,^[a](F) we shall be like him,^(G) for we shall see him as he is.^{(H) 3} All who have this hope in him purify themselves,^(I) just as he is pure.^(J)

¹⁶ This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.^(A) And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.^{(B) 17} If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them,^(C) how can the love of God be in that person?^{(D) 18} Dear children,^(E) let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.^(F)

¹⁹ This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: ²⁰ If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹ Dear friends,^(G) if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God^{(H) 22} and receive from him anything we ask,^(I) because we keep his commands^(J) and do what pleases him.^{(K) 23} And this is his command: to believe^(L) in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,^(M) and to love one another as he commanded us.^{(N) 24} The one who keeps God’s commands^(O) lives in him,^(P) and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.^(Q)