1 John 4:10 (YLT)

Passage

in this is the love, not that we loved God, but that He did love us, and did send His Son a propitiation for our sins.

Nearby Context

1 John 4:8 he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love.

1 John 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God in us, because His Son--the only begotten--hath God sent to the world, that we may live through him;

1 John 4:10 in this is the love, not that we loved God, but that He did love us, and did send His Son a propitiation for our sins.

1 John 4:11 Beloved, if thus did God love us, we also ought one another to love;

1 John 4:12 God no one hath ever seen; if we may love one another, God in us doth remain, and His love is having been perfected in us;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "love", "loved", "send", "propitiation", and "sins". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "love" and "loved", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 9's "In this was manifested the love of..." into verse 11's "Beloved if thus did God love us...", so "love" and "loved" 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 "love" and "loved" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.