the barrel sounds and rings, there will not be much inside it.” “Empty barrels certainly make a sound, but when they are tapped they give nothing.”7 8. This is why St. John warns [his readers] so frequently through the whole Epistle to look out so that they do not deceive themselves and imagine that they are full of faith and have finished learning about Christ—unless they find it this way in their lives and can perceive that they are applying it by showing love toward their neighbor, by helping