Do you ever long for approval? I do. Sometimes I fear the real me isn’t enough and I’ll be rejected. I want to be seen with all my weaknesses and flaws, including all the gunk I hide deep inside, and still be wanted and valued. Acceptance means to be received as I am. Not having to achieve or prove anything or meet someone’s expectations. It’s the freedom to be me and that’s enough.
Where can we find someone who knows us completely and still loves us fully? Only Jesus offers perfect acceptance. The Bible, God’s written Word, teaches us throughout that God loves us. It’s because He loves us that He sent Jesus to rescue us from sin and calls us to come to Him. He invites us exactly as we are to believe and receive a full pardon for all we’ve done wrong. Then He holds us in His hands and no one can take us away (John 10:28).
Here are 10 Scripture passages about being accepted:
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1. Psalm 139:13-14
“For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful; I know that full well.”
I’m often hard on myself. I see every flaw when I look in the mirror. I see the wrinkles, blemishes, stray hairs, and all the imperfections. I try to cover up or hide whatever I think doesn’t measure up, using beauty products to welcome approval from others. I look back over conversations and wonder if I said the right words. But I don’t have to do any of this with God because He sees me as a wonderful creation just as I am!
Each person is unique. Despite what people may think, you’re a masterpiece. Thank God for the miracle you are.
2. Ephesians 1:4
“For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.”
You were chosen by God before He created the world!
Everyone wants to be chosen, and He chose us before we were born. He chose us to be holy and blameless in His sight though we are sinners. Jesus took the blame for us so we stand in court declared not guilty. We accept this mystery by faith.
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3. Romans 10:11-13
“As Scripture says, ‘Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.’ For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
God is holy and perfect. We’re not. God loves His creation so much, He sent His Son, Jesus, to live a perfect life and die for our sin. He paid for us to be able to come to God. When we believe in and follow Him, we never have to know shame. God offers the same love and acceptance to all regardless of who we are or what we’ve done. Everyone is called and all who answer receive salvation.
You’re offered the same love and acceptance as every other person.
4. Romans 15:7
“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”
Jesus Christ has accepted me! How can I worry about what other people think? He’s perfect in wisdom and knows everything yet loves and accepts me as I am. His view of me matters more than people’s opinions.
He loves you. Fill in this blank with your name: Jesus Christ has accepted ______.
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5. Acts 10:34-35
“Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears Him and does what is right.”
I confess I tend to favor some people over others. I easily make snap judgments about individuals. And I know I’m not everyone’s first choice. But God’s not like men. He doesn’t have favorites. He doesn’t like someone else better than you. He loves all equally. He sees our hearts and longs for all to have a relationship with Him.
6. Galatian 3:28
“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
As humans, we divide ourselves into groups, the easier to judge each other. Men vs. women, Black vs. White, rich vs. poor. But in Christ, there is no division, nor is any group superior over another. We’re all sinners saved by grace. The Apostle Paul repeated in Colossians 3:11, “Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”
No matter our race, ethnicity, gender, status, or upbringing, God accepts us when we believe in Christ.
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7. Romans 8:31-34
“If God is for us, who can be against us? … Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”
Do I care more about what people think than I do what God thinks? I often behave as if I do. I forget I’m chosen by a perfect, holy, mighty God. Even more, Jesus Christ is at His right hand praying for me! Praying for you! Therefore, who has the power to speak against me or you? How can we worry about what others think?
8. 2 Corinthians 12:9
“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
I fret about my weaknesses and think I should be strong. But Scripture teaches I should boast in my frailties! He wants me to rely on Him knowing I have no strength apart from Him. His grace is sufficient. When I depend on Him, His power works through me and He gets the glory.
Sometimes, my desire for acceptance can morph into seeking glory only God deserves. I already have acceptance in Him. I can thank Him for my weaknesses because they increase my dependence on Him.
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9. Ephesians 3:17-19
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
I have trouble grasping how much God loves me. The Apostle Paul prayed believers could somehow know the depth of God’s love for us. His love is perfect and infinite. It has unimaginable depth because it goes on forever. We can’t measure the width because it never ends and is beyond our comprehension. Therefore, we must accept it by faith.
10. Romans 8:35, 38-39
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Not only are we accepted by God and loved with an eternal love but it’s impossible for anything in creation to separate us from His great love! Nothing. Not even ourselves. That’s security. And doesn’t yearning for acceptance come from insecurity? We can rest assured in His infinite love.
Pray:
Father, thank You for giving me the approval I long for by loving me unconditionally. Thank You for choosing me! Wanting me. Even though You know the worst about me. Thank You Jesus for being willing to die for me and declare me blameless. I know I’m secure in Your love. Please help me focus on Your love and let go of seeking approval from others. Instead, help me lean on Your strength so others see You in me. I love You Lord.
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Originally published Thursday, 21 January 2021.
