Hope Discovery of the Day:
If God, Who is the perfect Judge, accepts us, who are we to judge ourselves?
Scripture of the Day:
Psalm 139:14
“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”
Ephesians 2:10
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Acceptance is one of the most pursued goals humans seek to achieve. To know that God, the Creator of the universe accepts us is astounding. Add to that the possibility that maybe some people accept us, too, and one would think that our acceptance meter would be satisfied. But the real critic holding out on our acceptance might be a little surprising.
In all the pursuits of life, we long to be significant, to make a difference. We want to know our life meant something. We look for others to satisfy this longing that ironically we need to meet ourselves. The emptiness in our soul looks for validation that God has already given, and still, we look to others because there is something within our own being that perpetually cries out for acceptance.
The only acceptance we really need God already gave us. But there is a holdout – it is ourselves. We somehow hold back from totally accepting ourselves.
Depending on our personality, we might approach it differently. Some might subtly tear themselves down while others don’t even dare to think they will ever amount to anything. This self-deprecation points to the real root of the problem – not being ok with who we uniquely are.
It can show up as a comparison to others, or a perfectionistic mentality that no one could ever achieve.
As I was singing and ministering at an event about a year ago, the audience was passionately worshiping God with us and suddenly one of the people in the audience shouted out, “we love you, Denise!” Overcome with emotion, I felt my throat tighten as I tried to keep singing. They loved me? Why? Reasons why they shouldn’t flooded my mind. I was too this or that, you know, the many different lies we believe.
But God did something in my heart that day. He let me know that it was okay for me to accept myself just as I was. If a total stranger could accept me, why couldn’t I accept myself? If my God could accept me, knowing my thoughts even before I know them, then for me to not accept myself was an insult to the One Who made me.
[Tweet “God made us and He doesn’t make junk.”]
The enemy accuses us to try and distract us from doing what we were made to do. He tells us we are not enough, less than. That we should just give up. God tells us the opposite. He says He delights in us and that we are the apple of His eye. Satan tries to tell us we are worthless. God said we are worth so much that he would die for us and then use us for His glory. If God, Who is the perfect Judge, accepts us, who are we to judge ourselves? God made us and He doesn’t make junk.
Lord, thank you for accepting us. Help us to accept ourselves and to not allow the accusations of the enemy to define us. You already did. Love you!