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God’s kids have to love each other
1 You know that Jesus is the Christ, the special man that God sent to save us. If anyone believes that about Jesus, it shows that God is their father, and they are one of God’s kids.
You know, all of us that are God’s kids, we love God. And if we love God, then we will love other Christians, because they are God’s kids too.
2 Do you want to be sure that you love other Christians? Well, keep on loving God and doing what he says. That’s the way to love other Christians.
If we love God, we will live his way
3 If we love God, then we will live his way and do the things that he tells us to do. And you know, it is not hard for us to live God’s way.
4 You see, we are God’s kids, and he makes us strong, so that we can live his way. The people that belong to this world, they don’t live God’s way. They live the world’s way, and they do bad things. But God helps us say no to doing those bad things. It’s like we won against the world. Do you know how we won against the world? We did it by believing in Jesus.
5 That’s right. There is only one sort of person that can win against the world. It’s the person that believes that Jesus is God’s son.
We know the true story about Jesus Christ
6 This is the true story about Jesus Christ, God’s son. He came to this earth, and he got baptised with water. Later on, he died, and his blood came out. Yes, Jesus Christ got baptised, but he also died. God’s spirit tells us that story is true. And everything God’s spirit says is right.
7 So these three things all tell us that Jesus is God’s son.
8 That water that Jesus got baptised with, it tells us about Jesus. And his blood that came out when he died, it tells us about Jesus. And the Holy Spirit, he tells us about Jesus. It’s like the Holy Spirit, and the water, and the blood, they all agree with each other.
9 You know, if people tell us a story about something that happened, we believe them. Well, we can trust God even more than we trust people. God always tells the true story. So we have to believe the story that God told us about his son.
10 Everyone that believes that Jesus is God’s son, they properly trust all the things that God said about Jesus. Yes, God said that Jesus is his son. If anyone doesn’t believe that story, it’s like they are calling God a liar.
11 This is the story that God told us. He told us that he sent Jesus to give us new life, so that we can live for ever with God.
12 Everyone that is joined up with Jesus, they have new life, and they will live for ever with God. But if anyone is not joined up with Jesus, then they do not have new life, and they can’t live for ever with God.
13 I know that you mob all believe in God’s son Jesus. So you all have new life from God, and you will live with God for ever. I want you to be really sure about that, and that’s the reason why I’m writing this letter to you.
God listens to us when we pray
14 We can be sure that God listens to us when we pray to him. Yes, if we think about the things God wants, and the good things that he promises, and if we ask God for those good things, then God will listen to us.
15 So whenever we pray to God, we know that God will listen to us, and he will do the things we ask.
We have to pray for Christians that do bad things
16 If you see another Christian doing the wrong thing, you have to pray for them, and then God will give them life. You know, some people do things that stop them being joined up with God. One day, those people will die for ever. I’m not saying you have to pray for those people. But you have to pray for Christians that do other bad things.
17 Every time somebody does a bad thing, they are going against God. But not all those bad things make a person die for ever.
We know that we belong to God
18 All us mob that are God’s kids, we know that we don’t keep on doing bad things all the time. God’s son Jesus helps us stay strong. The devil, that boss over the bad spirits, he always wants to make us do bad things. But Jesus keeps us safe, so the devil can’t make us go wrong.
19 We know that we belong to God. But the devil has power over everyone else in the world.
20 We know this too. God’s son Jesus came to this earth, and he showed us what God is like. So now we properly know the only true God. We are joined up with God, because we are joined up with his son Jesus Christ. He is properly God, and he gives us new life, so that we will live for ever with him.
21 My Christian friends, don’t follow any other gods, and don’t let anything else be the boss over your life.