Accepting Acceptance ~ Part 1

Do you remember when you were a kid and you got picked to be on the team for P.E. class?  What a great feeling that was to be wanted, to be chosen!  Maybe you are more like me and you were not always picked.  You know how it goes, when the kids have all been chosen and you are the last one and you just go on the team who has to pick the last kid!  Ugh, not a good feeling.  I was always the smallest and not the most athletic, so no one wanted to pick me.  So sad, I know!

Thankfully, we do not have to go through those unwanted feelings as a child of God.  He chose us and wants us on His team.  How exciting is that!  There's no waiting for God to say He wants us.  He even chose us before we were born.  The enemy is very good at whispering lies to us.  Telling us that we are not wanted, no good, and have no value.  We have to remember that Satan is a liar.  God's Word clearly tells us that we are chosen.  Ephesians 1:4 "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:" 

It is up to us to quench the lies of the enemy and to believe God's Word.  It is so easy to believe the lies Satan throws at us.  I have found in my life, that the more I am in the Bible, and the more that I am seeking God's truth, the easier it is to quench those lies.  I have also learned that Satan does not quit.  He does not give up!  He will constantly fight us.  We can step aside and let him win, or we can fight back with God's Word and with God's help. 

If we don't "feel" accepted, I think that it can change the way we live our lives.  If Jesus creating us, dying for us, paying the price for our sins, and raising Himself from the dead for us, does not prove that we are loved and accepted, the question is what will?  What else can Christ possibly do to prove His acceptance of us?  The truth is, nothing.  He has done so much to show us He accepts us.

The problem really, is that others don't accept us.  Truth is, they may never accept us.  We have to get to the point in our lives where we are okay with this.  Where we accept the fact that not everyone will accept us.  Christ accepts us and dear friend, this needs to be enough.  Christ is enough. 

I challenge you today to accept the acceptance of Christ.  Live knowing that God has handpicked you and He loves you very much.  I know this can be easier said than done.  I have lived years of my life stuck in the "not feeling accepted phase."  You do not have to stay there!  If I can get victory over this, I know you can too.  God's acceptance of us is a gift, accept that and be reminded each day that God chose you even before the world began and He still chooses you today. 

Merriam-Webster 1828 says, Accept= to give admittance or approval to; to recognize as true: Believe. 

Will you recognize it as true that God approves of you and accepts you?