Reach back into your memory and think about a time when you made a wrong choice and were sure your parents were going to stop loving you, and you would be sent off to Juvie Hall for the rest of your young life.

I wrote about a memory some time ago when I was five and my dad told me not to touch any of the levers on the loader tractor – and, of course, I did and I dumped a box of nails on the ground. I was just sure my dad was going to be livid and he would never love me again. Remember that story? (By the way, he still loves me!)

So many times in life we make wrong choices and we screw up. We lie, cheat, hurt others and say or do things that set life in motion and, like a tsunami, we can’t begin to stop the horrible circumstances that follow.

While some of us fool ourselves into thinking we aren’t to blame, others of us actually take on a guilty feeling that sticks to us like glue. Then our overactive conscience kicks into high gear and we start taking on the guilt of everyone around us and half the prisoners in the state penitentiary.

Unearned guilt picks up speed on its downward spiral and turns into un-lovability. Pretty soon, we don’t think anyone could love someone like us; after all, we are dirty, rotten sinners.

But that smoke-smelling lie comes straight from the Father of Lies and can only keep us in a corner temporarily. You see, no matter what we do or what we say, no matter how many wrong choices we make, no matter how many times we walk the other way thinking we know our path is better, no matter how many times we plug our ears and ignore good counsel, what we can’t shake is God’s love.

It sticks to us like glue. It makes up every fiber of our body. It’s stamped on the walls of our mind, it runs through each vein and artery of our body. Why? Because “… neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God …”

That pretty much covers it, doesn’t it? Is there anything that can separate us from God’s love? Nope. Not you, not me, not any circumstance. God’s love for us is constant. It doesn’t change, it doesn’t wane, it doesn’t get tired or weary, it’s always there waiting for you with arms wide open.

Your feelings of inadequacy can’t change it. Your actions of inequity can’t change it. Your words of ingenuity can’t earn it. God’s love is there, never changing, always enduring and available for all.

In a few days we will celebrate the birth of God’s son, Jesus. We will enjoy family gatherings and great traditions because of God’s love for us. No matter what happens this year, whether you enjoy a great family celebration or your family argues ’til the cows come home, God still loves you.

He’s waiting for you to drop your sword, leave your anger behind and fall into His arms of forgiveness. He loves you. No matter what, He always has; He always will. That’s just how God is.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication.