Choosing the Light

⁷ Dear friends, I’m not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the message you heard. ⁸ On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light already shines. ⁹ The one who claims to be in the light while hating a brother or sister is in the darkness even now. ¹⁰ The person loving a brother and sister stays in the light, and there is nothing in the light that causes a person to stumble. ¹¹ But the person who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and lives in the darkness, and doesn’t know where to go because the darkness blinds the eyes. ¹² Little children, I’m writing to you because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus’ name. ¹³ Parents, I’m writing to you because you have known the one who has existed from the beginning. Young people, I’m writing to you because you have conquered the evil one. ¹⁴ Little children, I write to you because you know the Father. Parents, I write to you because you have known the one who has existed from the beginning. Young people, I write to you because you are strong, the word of God remains in you, and you have conquered the evil one. ¹⁵ Don’t love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in them. ¹⁶ Everything that is in the world—the craving for whatever the body feels, the craving for whatever the eyes see and the arrogant pride in one’s possessions—is not of the Father but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world and its cravings are passing away, but the person who does the will of God remains forever.