What a thing to be called!
by Jo Corney
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See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)
Read 1 John 3:1–10
Have you experienced wanting to lavish love on another? Have you experienced love lavished on you? There are various relationships in which this can play out – usually in the space we feel is closest to us. The one in my mind is the parent and child relationship. In this, the extravagance of love, as appropriate, is overwhelming, richly empowering and all-consuming – even making our sacrifice for our children our default position. In this, we carve out and know love where we would give anything for the dear one to understand how precious and valued they are to us, how wonderful it is to share life with them, how selfless we feel toward them, and how we delight to gather with them. It’s solid. Lavish love – if it’s been our experience, it’s tremendously precious.
But even this tremendous, precious experience is only a shadow of what we read here about God’s love lavished on us. This passage offers many other points, but for our devotion today, how precious it is to take the time to sit with the Scripture that lavishes or abundantly pours out how uniquely loved we are by God. It’s like no other love available – it takes our human experience of appropriate familial love and dials it up to complete perfection, without limit and fault, only able to be offered by God. I think it is this way so that we know who we are in this unique relationship – his children. And, in this completely unique relationship with God as Father, we experience his love and other attributes of his heart up close – patience, kindness, gentleness and all the fruits of the Spirit.
In a family, there is usually some resemblance that, looking in from the outside, makes us think the members are related. So, amidst the experience of the avalanche in which God lavishes his love on me and calls me his child, I feel a little awkward about what resemblance I show of him in my heart. I see a resemblance in other Christians and am blessed and grateful that their actions remind me of God’s love and Jesus in their generosity, faithfulness, humility, giving, patience and graciousness … it encourages me in my faith journey and experience. But honestly, do I always show that?
Before I detour in my thoughts into what I can do in my strength to show a ‘family resemblance’ to the heart of God, I am again embraced by the lavish love – and grace – of God that makes my relationship possible with him. He pulls me back into the relationship that he makes work by all he does – how incredible to be reminded again as we come to the end of the calendar year that we are children of God – possible only by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Fellow Christian, ‘See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!’
Every blessing to you.
Loving God, thank you for your love for us, which is like no other. Please help us accept and rest in it as your children. In the name of Christ, Amen.
Jo is a wife and mum who serves in various roles in her local Lutheran church community and as a chaplain within Lutheran Services.
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