Have you ever felt that you just didn't belong? Perhaps you've been invited to a party where you did not know a soul except for the person who invited you. You stand in the corner like a goof sipping your drink and watching the other party-goers talk and have fun. You feel like an outsider and they are treating you like one. Maybe you've felt like an outsider in your own family. You're the so-called "black sheep" of the family and no one bothers trying to "get" you. They merely tolerate you. Unfortunately, many individuals feel unaccepted in one way or another during the course of their lives. I'm here to tell you that there is One who will always accept you. Our Heavenly Father is with you. He is always present, all-knowing, more understanding than we could ever be, and completely and totally in love with you. That's right, He LOVES you! Not only does He accept you, he LOVES you!! You may not know the Lord like you want to but that doesn't mean that He doesn't know YOU. He knows you better than you know yourself. In fact, God knew you before you were ever created. Jeremiah 1:5 says, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,before you were born I set you apart." Isn't that amazing? God knows every detail about us. He knows the good, the bad, and the ugly, and yet He completely accepts us for who we are. We have been saved by His grace through our faith in Him. God loved us so much that He sent His son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins so that we could one day be with Him instead of in the pits of Hell. Take a minute to think about that. It is completely humbling for me.
Sadly, many of us struggle with the idea that God loves us just the way we are. We live in a world where we are often not even tolerated because of who we are, much less loved. Some individuals come from families that don't always appreciate them. They are ridiculed, put down, misunderstood, or even hated by those who are supposed to love them the most. No wonder so many people have a skewed perception of what true love really is. However, God does love us no matter what color we are, what sex we are, or what sin we have just committed against Him. Some individuals think that God will love us because of the good deeds that we do. That's not exactly the case. God likes it when we do good deeds for Him but that does not affect His love for us. His love is unconditional yet individuals fail to fully understand this.
"I don't think I'm the only person who has misunderstood God's love. Most of us, to some degree, have a difficult time understanding, believing, or accepting God's absolute and unlimited love for us. The reasons we don't receive, trust, or see His love vary from one person to the next, but we all miss out because of it" (Crazy Love-Chan-53-54).
If you have a hard time accepting, believing, or understanding God's love, take into consideration these few points:
1. You have been justified: "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perserverance..." (Romans 5:1-3).
2. You are a SAINT: Yep, a saint. You have been made holy through Christ. Therefore, live your life knowing you are serving a great God and be the saint that you can be. Of course, most of us will never be a Mother Teresa but we don't have to be. God knows our special gifts and talents and better yet, He GAVE us those special gifts and talents that we can use to glorify Him. Use your gifts wisely and give glory to God. (Ephesians 1:1 and 1Corinthians 1:1-2)
3. You have been adopted as God's child: "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves..."(Ephesians 1:4-6)
4. You are a part of Christ- When God looks at you, He does not see a wrecked person, He sees Jesus. Crazy, right? It's true! "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised holy spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of his glory"(Ephesians 1:13-14). Therefore, we must believe in response to what we have heard.
5. You are Christ's Friend! Christ not only LOVES you but He considers you His friend! How awesome is that! I love this next passage: "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name" (John 15:13-16) I love this passage. It warms my heart and gives me chills. It puts tears in my eyes. Christ chose me. He CHOSE me. I have screwed up in so many ways in my lifetime but He still loves me and chooses me to be His friend. He wants to be your friend too. Christ laid down His LIFE for me!!! Some friends won't even go run an errand for you but Christ DIED for you!! How AWESOME!
Feeling accepted yet? I know I am! How great is our God. Praise God! I'll leave you with this: don't go into life being afraid of being unaccepted. You have already been accepted by our God who is so loving and awesome and He will guide your steps in life. Always remember this command: "Love each other" (John 15:17). That is the Lord's command. He loves us and in return, we are to love His people. All people. It may be hard but try this week to be an accepting child of God.
Thanks to Matt Walton for a great sermon last Sunday. The points in this blog were put together through his sermon. Come visit Trinity to experience God's presence in a special way.
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