I Am Accepted

Excerpts from Spiritual, Chapter 4

“…We have the free gift of being accepted by God, even though we are guilty of many sins.” Romans 5:16 (NLT)

Your whole life you have had authorities like parents, teachers, and bosses. Authorities are in charge and have the right to tell you to do certain things. In the following diagram, the arrow indicates how their relationship with you starts from a position of authority.

Authorities tell the people under them what to do and hold those people accountable for doing or not doing what they are told.

Authorities usually affirm hard workers and withhold affirmation from those who do not perform well.

Q1. Were you ever praised for doing things right or belittled for having done things wrong? How did you feel?

If you do things right and keep doing things right, you may finally receive that authority’s acceptance.

Q2. Were there authorities in your life that made you think you couldn’t do enough to receive their acceptance? Explain.

When people in authority withhold acceptance to get you to do what they want, it is a way of exercising control. Instead of feeling accepted, you usually end up feeling rejected.

Q3. Have you ever felt rejected by an authority? How did you react (for example: did you rebel or try harder to please)?

Q4. What do you think you need to change before God will accept you?

God’s Way
God’s way of exercising His authority is totally different than the world.

“‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,’ declares the LORD.” Isaiah 55:8 (NASB)

The world is motivated by its desire to control you. God is motivated by His love for you. Love makes the diagram go in the opposite direction.

Acceptance
God’s way starts with acceptance. He accepts you right now before you do anything. You are accepted because Christ’s death on the cross made you acceptable.

“…We have the free gift of being accepted by God, even though we are guilty of many sins. The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over us, but all who receive God’s wonderful, gracious gift of righteousness will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:16–17 (NLT)

Q5. When you sin, how do you think God reacts toward you? Do you think God gets angry and rejects you?

You have been accepted by God because of Christ! If you believe that, then you understand your behavior does not affect His acceptance of you.

Affirmation
Since God accepts you, He affirms His acceptance by telling you how much He loves you.

“And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” Ephesians 3:18–19 (NLT)

Q6. What do these verses say about how much God loves you?

Accountability
Because God loves and accepts you as His child, He shows you things you need to start doing and things you need to stop doing.

“‘For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes those he accepts as his children.’ As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Whoever heard of a child who was never disciplined?” Hebrews 12:6–7 (NLT)

Q7. How do you think God wants you to view His discipline?

“Happy are those whom you discipline, LORD, and those whom you teach from your law.” Psalm 94:12 (NLT)

Authority
God holds you accountable based on His position as the ultimate authority. He created everything, including you, for His purposes. Therefore, He has the right to tell you what you can and can’t do.

“So you should not be like cowering, fearful slaves. You should behave instead like God's very own children, adopted into his family – calling him ‘Father, dear Father.’” Romans 8:15 (NLT)

Q8. Have you believed that God’s authority is like man’s authority? How?

Faith
When you believe you are accepted because of what Jesus did for you on the cross, you are walking by faith. But when you believe your acceptance is based on your behavior, you are walking by sight.

“That is why we live by believing and not by seeing.” 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NLT)

Consider this definition of faith: Faith is a decision to believe what God says even though it may not “feel” true.

The truest things about you are what God says about you, not what the world says about you or even what you might think about yourself.

“What can we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since God did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? Will God? No! He is the one who has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? Will Christ Jesus? No, for he is the one who died for us and was raised to life for us and is sitting at the place of highest honor next to God, pleading for us. Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love?” Romans 8:31–35 (NLT)

When you take action based on what God says is already true, you will begin to experience how good His authority really is!

Take Action
If you have believed God only accepts you when you are “doing good things,” confess that wrong thinking to God.

If your view of God’s authority has been wrong, discuss that with God. Ask Him to give you a proper perspective.

Thank God for accepting you.

Thank God that He is good and His plan is for your benefit.

Read the rest of the Spiritual book to learn more about God's plan for your relationship with Him. Learn the solution to the fundamental problem in man that leads to frustration, anger and isecurity. Become secure in your identity in Christ, rejoice in God's acceptance of you and experience life change as a result.

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