Daily Reading for Personal Growth, 40 Days with God

¹⁷ Whoever has earthly possessions and notices a brother in need and yet withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God be present in him? ¹⁸ Little children, we must stop expressing love merely by our words and manner of speech; we must love^[a] also in action^[b] and in truth. ¹⁹ This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and how we will be able to keep ourselves^[c] strong in his presence.

²⁰ If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. ²¹ Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in the presence of God. ²² Whatever we request we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his commandment: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus the Messiah,^[d] and to love one another as he commanded us. ²⁴ The person who keeps his commandments abides in God,^[e] and God abides in him.^[f] This is how we can be sure that he remains in us: he has given us his Spirit.