“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him” (1 John 3:1).

When I was in Bible College and had to present my first sermon attempt in a preaching class this verse was my first text. It staggered me then and it still staggers me now. That God lavishes His love on us is an overwhelming thought. He has given us love, not because we earned it, but because of His own goodness.

For those of us who are parents, we know what it means to have a special relationship with our children. Albert Barnes commented on this verse, “When we remember how insignificant we are as creatures, and how ungrateful, rebellious, and vile we have been as sinners, we may well be amazed at the love which would adopt us into the holy family of God, so that we may be regarded and treated as the children of the Most High.”

When we have thoughts of inferiority or wonder about God’s attitude toward us remember what the apostle said, “And that is what we are!” We are to never doubt God’s love for us and are never to doubt our relationship as part of His family. I’ll never get over these words: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us.”