1 John 4:16-21
4:16 And we have come to know and to believe
the love that God has in us.
God is love, and the one who resides
in love resides in God, and God resides in him.
4:17 By this
love is perfected with
us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus
is, so also are we in this world.
4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.
The
one who fears punishment
has not been perfected in love.
4:19 We love
because he loved us first.
4:20 If anyone says “I love God” and yet hates his fellow Christian, he is a liar, because the one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
4:21 And the commandment we have from him is this: that the one who loves God should love his fellow Christian too.