Accept and Reject

Acceptance in something we all long for and hopefully it is something we have received in some measure throughout our lives. Rejection is something we all could do without, but, sadly, we have all experienced this to one degree or other as well.

There is a God-given desire in our hearts to know true, unconditional acceptance. Deep inside we cry out “please love me for being me”. Yet, in this world, with its many evils, we do experience rejection on a regular basis.

I am forever amazed at Jesus’ response to the many rejections in His life. No matter how many people hated Him, accused Him, betrayed Him or ganged up against Him, His response was always steady, secure and righteous. His secret, I believe, was that He was 100% securely rooted in His Father’s love and acceptance.

As we grow up in life, and absorb rejection, we may start to behave in unhelpful ways. Just recently, the Lord pointed out something in my ongoing behaviour that was in fact blocking something of God’s love. Though God’s love is an ongoing reality- to some extent it was not ‘going in’, not reaching every part of me. I sensed He gave me some advice, which I have been trying to follow ever since. It was a simple as it is profound. What I felt the Lord say was this: “Accept acceptance, and reject rejection”.

That is it! We need to seek to accept God’s acceptance of us, which is complete and based on His love for us. When we come to Him, on the basis of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, He accepts us completely, absolutely and unreservedly. Yet, sometimes, we reject this acceptance by God, because it clashes with the way we feel or think.

On the other hand, when we perceive people’s rejection of us, we can tend to accept that as right. We might even embrace it. So we need to learn to reject this rejection, so we can accept God’s acceptance. I am certain that if we consistently do so, our lives will never be the same again.

What’s more, accepting God’s acceptance and rejecting the rejection, means that we will start to walk more as Jesus walked. We, too, can grow to have a calm, quiet confidence that is rooted in God’s unconditional love for us.

Prayer: Father in heaven, please teach me to walk more as Jesus walked, in Your love. Please help me to accept Your acceptance of me, and to reject the rejection that the enemy throws my way. In Jesus’ name, Amen.