Passage
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son a propitiation for our sins.
1 John 4:10 (DBY)
Nearby Context
1 John 4:8 He that loves not has not known God; for God is love.
1 John 4:9 Herein as to us has been manifested the love of God, that God has 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 a propitiation for our sins.
1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God has so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:12 No one has seen God at any time: if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "herein", "love", "loved", "sent", "propitiation", and "sins". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "herein" and "love", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 9's "Herein as to us has been manifested..." into verse 11's "Beloved if God has so loved us...", so "herein" and "love" 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 "herein" and "love" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.