And it is a text, which if we will ponder it and, at the same time, be honest with ourselves, will take us right down to the bottom of things. Love, John is saying, is giving ourselves to others, as Christ gave himself to us. And he mixes the indicative and the imperative together throughout. It is, this brotherly love, at one and the same time, what we have and what we seek. And so, in the first place, John says, we cannot give ourselves to others if we do not do so first in our hearts.
Love is first an attitude of sympathy, fellow-feeling, and benevolence toward one another.
That is a comforting truth in many ways. But it also means that God knows what is in our hearts regarding others. He judges our love as a single whole. He is not deceived if we pretend to love someone while hiding animosity toward that person in our hearts. John addresses himself to our attitudes regarding one another, our hidden feelings, when he speaks in vv.