The Message Bible MSG
New International Version NIV
11 For this is the original message we heard: We should love each other.
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For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
12 We must not be like Cain, who joined the Evil One and then killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because he was deep in the practice of evil, while the acts of his brother were righteous.
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Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.
13 So don't be surprised, friends, when the world hates you. This has been going on a long time.
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Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
14 The way we know we've been transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who doesn't love is as good as dead.
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We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know very well that eternal life and murder don't go together.
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Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
16 This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves.
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This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
17 If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.
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If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?
18 My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love.
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Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
19 This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality.
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This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence:
20 It's also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.
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If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
21 And friends, once that's taken care of and we're no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we're bold and free before God!
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Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.