I grew up in a family that openly said, “I love you.” One day I found out why. I read a card written by my grandmother to her brother after their father died. She lamented that they had not openly expressed affection and vowed to break that cycle. They did, and I have reaped the benefits.

Even more than we need reassurance of one another’s love, we need to be reminded of God’s love. In Romans, Paul does that by vividly displaying how nothing can ever separate us from it. My grandmother may have felt remiss about not expressing love. But God has expressed it to us clearly!

No matter what you are going through—persecution, grief, pain, temptation, a conviction of sin, oppression, anxiety—you cannot be separated from God’s love.

Paul grounds this unshakeable love in Christ. God gave you His own Son to atone for your sin. He chose you and justified you. Jesus is alive and interceding for you. If you have trusted in Christ for salvation, you are united to Him forever. Absolutely nothing can ever separate you from His love.