How to have Fellowship and Joy through Christ

In 1 John, John begins his epistle by stating that he desires that the saints have fellowship with the apostles and that their joy may be full through the Father and the Son.

• In verses 8-10 he tells us that we can do this by confessing our sins, that by denying that we’ve sinned we’re deceiving ourselves and cutting ourselves off from the truth. 
• 1 John 2: 3-6 give us further advice, urging us to keep the commandments, because by doing so we are perfecting the love of God in us. If we desire to have part with Christ, then we need to do what he did and walk after the way he walked.   
• Verses 9-11 tell us to love our brothers, because we cannot truly have the gospel in us if we go around hating others. Hate blinds us, and so we must be forgiving that we can live in the light. 
• 1 John 3: 11-19 continues this theme, telling us not to be like Cain, hating because of envy, but to be loving and compassionate in word and deed.   
• In John 2: 15-17, John also urges us to not love the world or worldly things but to love the things of God. He says that loving the world separates us from God, but doing the will of God helps Him to abide in us forever.  
•  Verses 20-12 and 27 are a bit confusing for me. I think what they are talking about is being a chosen member, anointed and taught the truth and sticking with what you’ve been taught, learning to not look beyond the mark but to have faith in that truth that you’ve already learned. 
• Lastly, in 1 John 3: 4-6 he tells us not to continue in sin, but to take advantage of the atonement and to cease sinning that we may abide in Christ. 

I know that I can do a better job at implementing this advice into my life. Particularly, I can be better at learning about the life of Christ, reading through the gospels and through 3Nephi, and through Jesus the Christ, that I can understand his life better. By doing these things, I will set his example firmly in my mind, that I will really know what it means to “Choose The Right”. It’s not as if I haven’t read my scriptures or heard the stories of his miracles, but I haven’t studied them in depth the way I would like to. I really want to walk after the way that he did, that I may emulate his light and be a blessing and an example to others.