Paul Listed Everything That Could Separate You

There is a quiet fear that if people saw the whole of you, they would leave. Most of us learn to work around it rather than say it out loud.

Paul went looking for something that could break God's love and wrote down everything he could think of. Romans 8:38 and 39 say, "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Look at how thorough he is. Death, the future, things nobody has even named yet. He empties the whole category and then adds any other creature in case he missed something. And your name is not on the list either.

This is why it matters so much. 1 John 4:18 says, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear." Fear does not leave because you talk yourself out of it. It leaves when you are convinced you are loved.

So how do you get hold of it? The same way you take anything you did not pay for. You believe the person offering it. You are not building up credit with God so He stays interested. The Holy Spirit is the one who makes this real in you, usually on the days you feel least deserving of it.

His love is not a prize sitting at the end of your effort. It was handed to you at the start, and Paul could not find one thing strong enough to take it back.