1 John 4:11 (ASV)

Passage

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Nearby Context

1 John 4:9 Herein was the love of God manifested in us, that God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him.

1 John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins.

1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4:12 No man hath beheld God at any time: if we love one another, God abideth in us, and his love is perfected in us:

1 John 4:13 hereby we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "beloved", "ought", and "another". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "beloved" and "ought", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "Herein is love not that we loved..." into verse 12's "No man hath beheld God at any...", so "beloved" and "ought" belong inside that flow. In 1 John context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "beloved" and "ought" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.