1 John 4:12-21

12 ¹No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and ²his love is perfected in us.

13 ³By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

14 And ⁴we have seen and testify that ⁵the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of ⁶the world.

15 ⁷Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

16 So ⁸we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. ⁹God is love, and ¹⁰whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

17 By this ¹¹is love perfected with us, so that ¹²we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because ¹³as he is so also are we in this world.

18 There is no fear in love, but ¹⁴perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not ¹⁵been perfected in love.

19 ¹⁶We love because he first loved us.

20 ¹⁷If anyone says, "I love God," and ¹⁸hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot^[a] love God ¹⁹whom he has not seen.

21 And ²⁰this commandment we have from him: ²¹whoever loves God must also love his brother.