16. And so we know the love that God has for us, and we trust that love.God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God lives in him.
17. If God’s love is made perfect in us, then we can be without fear on the day God judges us. We will be without fear, because in this world we are like him.
18. Where God’s love is, there is no fear, because God’s perfect love takes away fear. It is punishment that makes a person fear. So love is not made perfect in the person who has fear.
19. We love because God first loved us.
20. If someone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. He can see his brother, but he hates him. So he cannot love God, whom he has never seen.
21. And God gave us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.