12
Dear children, I'm writing to you because your sins have been forgiven. They have been forgiven because of what Jesus has done.
13
Fathers, I'm writing to you because you have known the One who is from the beginning. Young people, I'm writing to you because you have won the battle over the evil one. Dear children, I'm writing to you because you have known the Father.
14
Fathers, I'm writing to you because you have known the One who is from the beginning. Young people, I'm writing to you because you are strong. God's word lives in you. You have won the battle over the evil one.
Do Not Love the World
15 Do not love the world or anything in it. If you love the world, love for the Father is not in you.
16
Here is what people who belong to this world do. They try to satisfy what their sinful natures want to do. They long for what their sinful eyes look at. They brag about what they have and what they do. All of this comes from the world. It doesn't come from the Father.
17
The world and its evil longings are passing away. But those who do what God wants them to do live forever.