The Scriptures -1 John 4:7-12

Beloved, let us love one another 

because love is of God; 

everyone who loves is begotten of God 

and has knowledge of God. 

Those who do not love 

have known nothing of God, 

for God is love. 

God's love was revealed in our midst in this way: 

by sending the Only Begotten into the world, 

that we might have faith through the Anointed One. 

Love, then, consists in this: 

not that we have loved God, 

but that God has loved us, 

and has sent the Only Begotten to be an offering for our sins. 

Beloved, if God has loved us so, 

we must have the same love for one another. 

No one has ever seen God. 

Yet if we love one another, 

God dwells in us, 

and God's love is brought to perfection in us. 

One: This is the Word of God for the whole world. 

All: Thanks be to God.