¹⁷ If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them,^(A) how can the love of God be in that person?^{(B) 18} Dear children,^(C) let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.^(D)

¹⁹ This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: ²⁰ If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.