1 John 1:4 (LSB)

Passage

And these things we are writing, so that our joy may be made complete.

Nearby Context

1 John 1:2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us—

1 John 1:3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

1 John 1:4 And these things we are writing, so that our joy may be made complete.

1 John 1:5 And this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not do the truth;

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "what we have seen and heard we..." into verse 5's "And this is the message we have...", so "things" and "writing" 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 "things" and "writing" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.