Love--Our New Identity

New Creation Identity—born of God

If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother....
We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.

By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him;

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”
It’s already in you to love—it’s who you are now in the Spirit!