1 John 4:7-11

7 My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God.

8 The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God is love - so you can't know him if you don't love.

9 This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him.

10 This is the kind of love we are talking about - not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God.

11 My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other.