Lavish

God, 
 You lavish 
   love upon us, 
 freely, 
 almost recklessly. 

You are not 
 a spendthrift 
 nor a squanderer 
though You 
 pour out 
 Your life-gift 
   of grace 
on us, 
   the undeserving. 

My mind can't grasp 
 the makeup 
   nor the depth 
 of such a love-gift 
but my spirit 
 revels 
in Your free outpouring 
that cleanses all guilt 
 and claims us 
as Your beloved children 
 made holy. 
- Nancy Spiegelberg 

1. 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. 
2. Dear friends, now we are children of God, 
and what we will be has not yet been made known. 
But we know that when he appears, 
we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 
1 John 3:1-3 
Holy Bible, New International Version 

For grace is given not because we have done 
good works, but in order that we 
may be able to do them. 
SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO (354-430) 

Grace is a certain beginning of glory in us. 
SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274) 

In the Bible there are three distinctive meanings of grace; 
it means the mercy and active love of God; it means the 
winsome attractiveness of God; it means 
the strength of God to overcome. 
CHARLES L. ALLEN (1913- )