Have I gone too far for God to want me?

No. Jesus described God as searching for the one lost sheep until he finds it. There is no distance too far, no sin too great, that puts you beyond his wanting.

Does God want me even after everything I've done?

Yes. God's welcome is grounded in his own love and in what Jesus has done, not in your record. He wants you as you are, not a cleaned-up future version.

How can I be sure God still wants me?

Look at Jesus. He sought out the very people everyone else had written off, and he said he came to seek and to save the lost. His whole life was God going looking for people like you.

There is a way home

Does God still want me?

Yes, God still wants you. Not a cleaned-up, future version of you, but you, as you are tonight, with everything you have done and everywhere you have been. His wanting is not fragile, and you have not exhausted it. That is the whole scandal of grace.

You are afraid you have finally crossed the line, that you have wandered too far, sinned too much, stayed away too long, and that God, understandably, has moved on. It would make sense if he had. And so you do not even ask, because you are bracing for the answer to be no.

What is true

Listen to how Jesus described God: a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep to search the wilderness for one lost one, and carries it home rejoicing. A father who scans the horizon for a son he has every reason to disown. This is not a God looking for a reason to be done with you. This is a God who goes looking. The question is not whether he still wants you. It is whether you will let yourself be found.

What Jesus said, and did

“What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them... doth not... go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.”

Luke 15:4-5

“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”

John 6:37

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life... shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:38-39

One small step

Your one small step: stop bracing for rejection and simply ask. Say to God, do you still want me, and let the answer of the shepherd who searches be louder than your fear.

If you want to pray

God, I am afraid I have finally gone too far. But you say you go looking for the lost one. If that is true, then here I am. Find me. Amen.

Honest questions

Have I gone too far for God to want me?: No. Jesus described God as searching for the one lost sheep until he finds it. There is no distance too far, no sin too great, that puts you beyond his wanting.
Does God want me even after everything I've done?: Yes. God's welcome is grounded in his own love and in what Jesus has done, not in your record. He wants you as you are, not a cleaned-up future version.
How can I be sure God still wants me?: Look at Jesus. He sought out the very people everyone else had written off, and he said he came to seek and to save the lost. His whole life was God going looking for people like you.

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There is no rush

You do not have to decide anything today. You can read a little, close the page, and come back tomorrow, or never. Nobody here is keeping score, and you owe no one an answer. When you are ready, and only then, the gentlest place to meet Jesus is in his own words, watching how he treats the tired, the ashamed, and the ones everybody else gave up on.

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Jesus Christ is Lord.

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