Easy Bible Crafts

Read & explore together

Love Comes from God

This passage teaches that Christian love begins with God, is shown in the sending of his Son, and must be seen in the way believers treat one another. It joins belief, love, confidence, and obedience in one clear message.

1 John 4:7–21Read together with an adultLetter and teaching
Parchment, a reed pen and an ink pot on an ancient writing table

Understanding the passage

The setting of these words

In these verses, the writer addresses “Beloved” and repeatedly calls for love among believers. He explains what love is by pointing to God’s action in sending his Son, then connects that truth with remaining in God, the Spirit, confession about Jesus, and boldness instead of fear.

1 John 4:7–21

Main takeaway

Because God loved first and sent his Son, those who know him are to love one another in ways that match their confession.

Follow the letter’s teaching

Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.

01Love starts with GodThe passage begins with a command and a reason: “let’s love one another, for love is of God”.

Explanation

The passage begins with a command and a reason: “let’s love one another, for love is of God”. Love is not treated as a vague feeling here. It shows a connection with being born of God and knowing God. The opposite is also stated plainly: refusing love shows that a person does not know God, because “God is love”.

1 John 4:71 John 4:8
02God showed love by sending his SonThe writer explains love by pointing to what God did. God’s love was revealed in sending his only born Son so that “we might live through him”.

Explanation

The writer explains love by pointing to what God did. God’s love was revealed in sending his only born Son so that “we might live through him”. Love is defined first by God’s initiative, not ours. The Son is also called the atoning sacrifice for sins, showing that this love deals seriously with sin.

1 John 4:91 John 4:101 John 4:11
03Love makes the unseen God known among believersNo one has seen God, yet the passage says something visible can still happen: if believers love one another, God remains in them and his love is perfected in them.

Explanation

No one has seen God, yet the passage says something visible can still happen: if believers love one another, God remains in them and his love is perfected in them. The writer adds that God has given his Spirit, and testifies that the Father sent the Son as the Saviour of the world.

1 John 4:121 John 4:131 John 4:14
04Confessing Jesus and remaining in loveThis part joins belief and love closely together. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God remains in God, and God remains in that person.

Explanation

This part joins belief and love closely together. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God remains in God, and God remains in that person. The writer repeats, “God is love”, then says that remaining in love is connected with remaining in God. Love here is not separate from what is confessed about Jesus.

1 John 4:151 John 4:16
05Perfect love gives confidence and rejects false claimsPerfected love brings boldness for the day of judgment and pushes out fear connected with punishment.

Explanation

Perfected love brings boldness for the day of judgment and pushes out fear connected with punishment. The writer then returns to everyday relationships. Love for God cannot honestly be claimed while hating a brother. The command is direct: the one who loves God should also love his brother.

1 John 4:171 John 4:181 John 4:191 John 4:201 John 4:21

Questions to explore

Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.

01According to this passage, how does the writer define love before telling believers to practise it?

Look for the verses that describe God sending his Son and notice that love begins with God’s action, not with human effort.

1 John 4:91 John 4:10
02What does the passage connect with ‘remaining’ in God?

Gather the statements about the Spirit, confessing Jesus as the Son of God, and remaining in love, and read them together.

1 John 4:131 John 4:151 John 4:16
03Why does the writer say loving a brother matters when someone says, ‘I love God’?

Use the contrast between what can be seen and what cannot be seen to explain the writer’s reasoning.

1 John 4:201 John 4:21

Read the Bible passage

World English Bible Classic

Scripture quotation · Public domain

1 John 4:7–21

7Beloved, let’s love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

8He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love.

9By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his only born Son into the world that we might live through him.

10In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

11Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another.

12No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us.

13By this we know that we remain in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

14We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world.

15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God.

16We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.

17In this, love has been made perfect among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, even so we are in this world.

18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love.

19We love him, because he first loved us.

20If a man says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?

21This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother.

Source passages

Source: 1 John 4 ↗
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