34 *But I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you. 35 If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples.

7 My dear friends, we must love each other. Love comes from God, and when we love each other, it shows we have been given new life. We are now God’s children, and we know him.

20 But if we say we love God and don’t love each other, we are liars. We cannot see God. So how can we love God, if we don’t love the people we can see?

10 But if we love others, we are in the light, and we don’t cause problems for them.*

1 If we believe Jesus is truly Christ, we are God’s children. Everyone who loves the Father will also love his children.

22 You obeyed the truth,* and your souls were made pure. Now you sincerely love each other. But you must keep on loving with all your heart.

25 Some people have given up the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer.

16 *Let the message about Christ completely fill your lives, while you use all your wisdom to teach and instruct each other. With thankful hearts, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.

19 *When you meet together, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, as you praise the Lord with all your heart.

17 Just as iron sharpens iron,

friends sharpen the minds

of each other.

17 *A friend is there to help,

in any situation,

and relatives are born

to share our troubles.

24 Some friends don’t help,*

but a true friend is closer

than your own family.

10 Don’t desert an old friend

of your family

or visit your relatives

when you are in trouble.

A friend nearby is better

than relatives far away.

15 *If one of my followers* sins against you, go and point out what was wrong. But do it in private, just between the two of you. If that person listens, you have won back a follower. 16 *But if that one refuses to listen, take along one or two others. The Scriptures teach that every complaint must be proven true by two or more witnesses.

15 *If one of my followers* sins against you, go and point out what was wrong. But do it in private, just between the two of you. If that person listens, you have won back a follower. 16 *But if that one refuses to listen, take along one or two others. The Scriptures teach that every complaint must be proven true by two or more witnesses. 17 If the follower refuses to listen to them, report the matter to the church. Anyone who refuses to listen to the church must be treated like an unbeliever or a tax collector.*

18 *I promise you God in heaven will allow whatever you allow on earth, but God will not allow anything you don’t allow. 19 I promise that when any two of you on earth agree about something you are praying for, my Father in heaven will do it for you. 20 Whenever two or three of you come together in my name,* I am there with you.

35 That is how my Father in heaven will treat you, if you don’t forgive each of my followers with all your heart.

40 The king will answer, "Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me."

35 Anyone who obeys God is my brother or sister or mother."

17 *Don’t hold grudges. On the other hand, it’s wrong not to correct someone who needs correcting.

1 Don’t correct an older man. Encourage him, as you would your own father. Treat younger men as you would your own brother, 2 and treat older women as you would your own mother. Show the same respect to younger women that you would to your sister.

8 People who don’t take care of their relatives, and especially their own families, have given up their faith. They are worse than someone who doesn’t have faith in the Lord.