1 John 3:11-18

New Testament for Everyone

The challenge of love

¹¹ This is the message which you heard right from the start, you see, that we should love one another. ¹² We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one, and murdered his brother. Why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil, while his brother’s were right.

¹³ Don’t be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the family. Anyone who doesn’t love abides in death. ¹⁵ Everyone who hates their brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has the life of the coming age abiding in them. ¹⁶ This is how we know love: he laid down his life for us. And we too ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ Anyone who has the means of life in this world, and sees a brother or sister in need, and closes their heart against them—how can God’s love be abiding in them? ¹⁸ Children, let us not love in word, or in speech, but in deed and in truth.