We shouldn’t live under a blanket of shame when we’re loved

Rob Bell tells the story of his young son being caught in a couple of lies. When this little lad realized his mother had found him out, he sprinted out of the living room and up the stairs.

He disappeared for the rest of the afternoon.

Later, when Rob called his wife to tell her he was on his way home, she shared the whole story. As he drove home, Rob pondered how he was going to deal with the situation; his boy had never lied to them before.

When Rob walked in the house, his wife pointed up the stairs and said she hadn’t seen or heard the boy in several hours.

Rob climbed the stairs and looked in his son’s room. He wasn’t there. He looked in the youngest son’s room. Not there either. He looked in the bathroom. Nope. Only one place left — Rob and Kristen’s bedroom. He opened the door and there in the middle of their bed, under the covers, was a boy-sized lump.

Rob thought, “He must be so hot and miserable.” It was a very warm day.

Rob walked over, sat on the bed and pulled back the covers. The boy lay there motionless, hair wet with perspiration. After a moment, Rob said to his boy, “There’s nothing you could ever do that would make me love you less.”

His son came alive and planted his wet head right in Rob’s chest and began sobbing. Rob wrapped his arms around his son and rocked him and repeated over and over, “There’s nothing you could ever do that would make me love you less. There’s nothing you could ever do that would make me love you less.”

Soon the sobbing subsided and the boy just sat there embraced in his father’s love and forgiveness.

Do we ever find ourselves living under a blanket of shame for something we’ve done wondering if we have forever forfeited God’s love? Truth is, God says to us over and over again something like, “There’s nothing you could ever do that would make me love you less.”

Paul writes in Romans 8:35-38, “Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! I’m absolutely convinced that nothing — nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable — absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus…has embraced us.” (The Message Bible)

Now, it is true that we have done things that have grieved God and hurt others. But it’s also true that all of us are more than the worse thing we have ever done. We are the beloved of God…no matter what.

No matter what you’ve done, no matter what you’ve said, no matter what’s been said or done to you, God loves you. There’s nothing you can ever do that would make God love you less.

Rob Bell concludes his story, “May you stop hiding under the covers. May you let God pull the covers back. May you embrace God. May your whole life become a