Daily Reading for Personal Growth, 40 Days with God

¹⁷ If anyone is rich in worldly possessions
and sees a brother in need
but refuses to open his heart,
how can the love of God abide in him?
¹⁸ Dear children,
let us love not in word or speech
but in deed and truth.^[a]
19 This is how we know
that we belong to the truth
and reassure our hearts in his presence
²⁰ even if our hearts experience a sense of guilt.
For God is greater than our hearts,
and he knows everything.
²¹ Beloved,
if our hearts do not condemn us,
we can approach God with confidence
²² and receive from him whatever we ask,
because we obey his commandments
and do whatever is pleasing to him.^[b]
23 And this is his commandment:
that we should believe
in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another just as he commanded us.^[c]
24 All those who keep his commandments abide in him,
    and he abides in them.
And the proof that he abides in us
is the Spirit that he has given us.