The Cost of Covering

 

Most people don’t think of themselves as “bad.”

We think in terms like:

  • I’m a good person

  • I try my best

  • I don’t hurt people on purpose

And compared to others, that might feel true.

But deep down, if we’re honest, there’s another reality we all recognize:

There are things in us we wish weren’t there.

Regret.
Shame.
Moments we can’t undo.
Words we wish we could take back.
Patterns we’ve tried to break… and haven’t.
We don’t need someone to convince us something is off—we already feel it.

Most of us learn how to manage that feeling.

We distract ourselves.
We justify it.
We minimize it.
We compare ourselves to someone worse.

But none of those things actually remove it.

Because what we’re dealing with isn’t just emotion—it’s something deeper.

It’s the weight of what’s wrong… in us and in the world.

And whether we call it “mistakes,” “brokenness,” or something else—

it still carries weight.

Why That Weight Matters

Here’s the part most people don’t consider:

What if the weight you feel… actually matters?

What if it’s not just psychological—but real?

What if the reason it doesn’t go away is because it can’t just be ignored?

In the Bible, this is called sin.

Not just the obvious things we point out in others—but everything in us that falls short of what is good, right, and true.

And the claim is simple, but serious:

That weight doesn’t just disappear.
It has a cost.

A Strange Beginning

Thousands of years ago, there was a moment that seems strange to modern ears.

Families were told to take a lamb, sacrifice it, and mark their doorposts with its blood.

Not as a ritual for tradition’s sake—but as a means of protection.

The idea was this:

Judgment was coming—but if the household was covered, they would be spared.

That might sound foreign… even uncomfortable.

But underneath it is something we understand more than we think:

Either the cost is paid…
or it isn’t.

We Still Live This Way

Even today, we live with this same reality—just in different forms.

When something is broken, someone pays.

When trust is damaged, someone carries the weight.
When harm is done, there’s always a cost—emotionally, relationally, or otherwise.

We don’t live in a world where wrong just disappears.

It’s either absorbed…
or it’s paid for.

What If You Didn’t Have to Carry It?

Here’s where the story turns.

What if the weight you carry…
was never meant to stay on you?

What if the reason it feels heavy…
is because it actually is?

And what if—rather than ignoring it or managing it—
there was a way for it to be lifted?

A Greater Covering

The message of Christianity isn’t that people should try harder to be better.

It’s that something has already been done.

That the cost we carry—every regret, every failure, every hidden thing—was taken on by someone else.

Jesus is described as “the Lamb of God.”

Not in a symbolic, poetic way—but in a very real one:

He took the weight.

He absorbed the cost.

He stood in the place where judgment would fall—and took it.

So that what once had to be covered temporarily…
could finally be dealt with completely.

Why This Matters Now

This isn’t just about history or religion.

It’s about you.

Because the question isn’t whether you’ve ever carried weight.

You have.

The question is:

Are you still carrying something you don’t have to?

A Different Way to Live

Most people live trying to:

  • prove themselves

  • fix themselves

  • outrun their past

  • or ignore what they feel

But what if freedom doesn’t come from trying harder…

What if it comes from letting something be lifted?

Not because you earned it.
Not because you deserve it.

But because it’s already been paid for.

Final Thought

We all know what it feels like to carry something heavy.

But not everyone knows…

they don’t have to.

And that might be the most important part of this story.

If You Sit With One Question… Let It Be This:

What am I still carrying… that I was never meant to?

Harry Robinson

Harry has been an ordained pastor since 2005 where he served at Capo Beach Church as the Family Ministry pastor and in Pastoral Care.  In 2014, he served as the Discipleship pastor at Mission Viejo Christian Church. Before being ordained, Harry worked for 14 years in the corporate world for Gateway Computers and Armor All Products managing business development and marketing. Harry has an M.A. in Pastoral Counseling from Liberty University and a B.S. in Psychology & Social Science from Vanguard University.

He is a Chaplain for the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA). Since 2011, he has been the President of Pillars, a non-profit ministry providing support and counseling to families to bring them into rich relational encounters.  He’s been married to his college sweetheart, Carmen, since 1989 and has four children – two sons, two daughters, 4 grandsons, and 1 granddaughter.

http://www.pillarscounseling.com
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