Be Encouraged by Jesus' Acceptance

We’ve been sharing about how important it is to know who you are in Christ. We begin by starting with the idea that “I am accepted.” That is not a normal consequence. Living in this fallen world, we’re not getting the message that we are accepted by other people or even that we accept ourselves. In the average home, for ever affirming statement that a child hears, they hear ten not-affirming statements—put downs, scoldings, etc. In schools where teachers are taught to know better, it’s 7 to 1.

The study went on to find out what it would take to mitigate one negative statement, and it takes at least four positive statements. If you don’t think that last issue is true—ladies, go out and ask somebody, “How do you like my new dress?” And four of them say, “Oh, it’s beautiful.” And one says, “It’s not you.” Which one will you go home and think about?

So how do we arrive at that in this fallen world? If we look for a formula—if I appeared wealthy or had beauty then people would accept me and be attracted me. If I performed well then I would get the affirmation I’m looking for. If I had social status….

The truth of the matter, no matter how well you perform, somebody’s going to do it better. No matter how good looking you are, you’re going to lose it some day, and social status is something you can’t take with you. It just doesn’t work. Even if you had all three of those it doesn’t equate to a whole person.

But me plus Christ is wholeness. Only in Christ am I fully accepted.

As I’ve helped people work through struggles and issues in their life, halfway through it, I usually say, “Who do you think your worst enemy is?” And almost every one of them will say, “Myself.”

If God has accepted you, can’t you accept yourself? And God has accepted you. He’s made you acceptable by the grace of God.

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Neil T. Anderson is the founder of Freedom in Christ Ministries. He began the ministry in 1989 and continues to spread the message of freedom to this day.