Episode 30 · 1 John 4:11
Please Say Fine
We asked "How are you?" They actually told us. We looked for the nearest exit.
Pundayschool · Passage · New Testament
1 John: devotional and study guide
John's short letter answers one question: how do we know we truly know God? His answer is love, made possible only because God loved us first. Pundayschool has landed on its hinge verse: since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
In short
1 John is a short letter, likely written late in the apostle John's life, to churches he knew well, reassuring genuine believers and correcting those who had left while denying who Jesus is. Pundayschool has covered one passage so far: 1 John 4:11, "since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another," from the episode Please Say Fine, which comes with a free devotional and small group study guide about actually listening when someone gives you a real answer.
The passage
One passage so far. When another episode lands in 1 John, it will be filed on this page.
One verse to hold
"Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."
1 John 4:11, NIV
Questions people ask
What is 1 John 4:11 about?
John tells his readers that since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. It sits inside a wider passage on love as the proof of truly knowing God, built on the fact that God loved us first and sent his Son.
Why does John connect God's love to loving one another?
John is writing to reassure genuine believers and correct people who had left the church while denying who Jesus is. His answer to how we know we truly know God is love, made possible only because God loved us first. Verse 11 turns that gift into an obligation, not a suggestion.
How does Please Say Fine use 1 John 4:11?
The episode catches the exact moment a routine "how are you" gets a real, honest answer, and the mascot's attention starts looking for the nearest exit. 1 John 4:11 lands as the correction: love one another, not greet one another efficiently.