Acceptance : Receiving others willingly and unconditionally (even when their behavior has been imperfect) and loving them in spite of any differences that may exist between you. (Romans 15:7)
I looked up different meanings of acceptance. This one caught me a little off guard:
The action or process of being received as adequate or suitable, typically to be admitted into a group.
If acceptance is one of your top relational needs, as it is mine, I wonder, does this definition make you a bit sad? I guess as I read the description a vision of a little girl (me) just popped in my mind, arms out, going from this person to the next, looking to be received,… but only adequately? That is the part that got me! Shouldn’t we be welcomed completely, engulfed in a huge hug of acceptance by those in our circle of influence? I want that: I bet you do too!
Maybe one of your top needs is acceptance. What in your past do you think drives that need…lack of it at home, in school? What is your inner child looking to have met? May I offer you the acceptance of Jesus?
One of the revelations that changed my life was when I realized how completely accepted I was by Jesus – by grace through faith! Honestly, I believed He accepted everyone else, …but me. That was a different story. Maybe you feel the same way? May I tell you….You are accepted NOT for what you do but for WHO you are…PERIOD! Nothing more! Isn’t that amazing?
Zephaniah 3:17 changed my life!
The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.
If this does not tell you how accepted you are by God! He takes GREAT DELIGHT in YOU! He Rejoices over you with singing! Wow!
Does your behavior count for anything? Of course it does; but salvation from God is a free gift not by acts of righteousness that we have done but by His mercy He has saved us.
And Ephesians 2: 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
My friend, maybe you were not accepted by those that should have when you were younger and they had a chance, but please reach out and take the gift of the acceptance Christ has for you! You cannot do or be anything that will diminish the love He already has for you! (Romans 5:8) Isn’t that freeing!?
- Does Jesus accept you even with your imperfections and sin? He embraces you, welcoming you and me into His family…a forever family. Would you spend a few moments quietly asking Jesus to reveal to you His current attitude toward you? Would you ask and listen to His answer regarding how He felt toward you in the past?….how about in the future? He is “the same yesterday, today, and forever”. Hebrews 13:8 And if He is, then He is fully able to accept you today as He has in the past and as He will in the future. Your “job” and my “job” is to love Him back now and forever. Choose to demonstrate your love for Him and those whom He loves. “Love your neighbor as yourself”.
- By the way,we might as well do the Scripture (Do the Book) while we are at it. Loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind; and loving others as yourself is exactly what it means to “do the book”. How could you and to whom could you show acceptance this week toward someone less than perfect, someone quite different from yourself or those normally in your circle of friends? Being kind and accepting to someone Jesus loves must make the heart of God very glad.
- Think of a time when someone accepted you when you felt very unacceptable or quite different from others. Were you athletic when others hoped you’d be academic or academic, when expected to be athletic? Were you too tall, too short, too something that brought out the ridicule from peers? Also, can you think of family or a friend, who lovingly accepted you when others didn’t? You knew you were accepted by them. Would you tell a story about how special it felt to be accepted by another or how rejected you felt when not accepted?