Acceptance

To accept is to simply receive something or someone.

We have to accept God’s free gift of salvation and understand that there is nothing we could ever do in and of ourselves to earn His love.  No amount of good works will earn us salvation nor will it make the Father love you even more.

When we surrender our lives to Jesus, we must come to that place where we say, “Jesus, this is all that I am, this is all that I have, even though it’s not a lot, but I place it into your loving hands.”  What does Jesus do?  He accepts us.  He receives us exactly as we are.  He wipes the stains of sin off of our lives and makes us holy.  Then through relationship He begins to mold us, shape us, and convict us so that we become more like Him.  That’s what it’s always been about  – the goal has always been for there to be a people on the Earth who are conformed to the image of Jesus.

But it all starts with that acceptance; that perfect love which says “I take you as you are.”  Without feeling secure in His acceptance we would never amount to anything, we would never grow.  But like a good Father, a good friend, and a good brother; He takes us step by step on the process of learning to be like Jesus.

In Romans 15:7 it says “Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.”  

If we can be confident in the fact that we are accepted by God, then we must learn to extend that acceptance to others.

The second commandment that Jesus gave is “to love your neighbor as yourself.”  If we love others then we must accept them as they are – as a precious gift that God has created.  As a diamond dug from a mine pit, that is valuable but has not yet been chiseled into the full beauty it will become.

Accept one another.  How would this change our lives and the lives of those around us?  How would this change the Bride of Christ?  If we would just accept each other, in spite of our weaknesses, and acknowledge that each person is valuable to the kingdom of God!  Those who are weak, fearful, and ashamed would find a place to flourish and grow.  They would find a place to become who the Creator made them to be.  They would find a place to use their gifts and not be worried about just being judged or people envying them.  They could rest assured that we are all working together towards the same goal.  The goal is not the glorification of one man’s ministry, but the goal is we are all working together to glorify God, edify the saints, and bring the Gospel to the lost.

No, acceptance doesn’t mean we accept their sin.  But we learn to love and value them despite their sins.  We don’t gloss over the sin or leave them in their sinful ways.  But we learn to love them with the love of Jesus:  a love that convicts, a love that compels, and a love that overcomes the power of sin.  We must live a life that preaches the Gospel, the truth, at all times.

We are body because some of us are weak where others are strong.  We shouldn’t have to be afraid to admit our weaknesses to one another.  We shouldn’t have to fear being bowled over by those who are strong.  But, we as the Church, should be able to create an atmosphere that allows the Body to thrive and grow together in unity.  A place where those rough diamonds can become cut and polished.  We should have a united heart that pursues Jesus together and that does the Father’s will together.

Give us fresh perspective Jesus!