Here is the revelation that is shaping my life today – I am fully accepted by God, so let my posture towards others be shaped by God’s posture towards me.
Romans 15:7 NLT
[7] Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.
Observation
Acceptance is so critical to fullness of life. We were born to live in relational connectedness, we are relational beings. This is what God is like, and we are born in His likeness. We must have relationships of connectedness built on acceptance. So being accepted is something we all long for from birth to death. But to be accepted we are often overwhelmed by the height of the jump and are crippled by the fear of the attempt. For in many circumstances acceptance is earned through performance. I am accepted because. This group accepts me because I believe what they believe. Another group accepts me because I look like they look. Another because I do what they do. And the list of the many because jumps goes on. So when I fail the because test, or even if I think I will, I retreat into isolation and the darkness crowds me in and locks out any hope of the light of connectedness.
But acceptance in the Kingdom of God is without because. Christ accepts us all just as we are. He does not demand a measure of fitness on my behalf. Many attribute goodness as God’s because for acceptance, because He is good it follows that I must be good to be accepted by Him. But this is just placing upon God the measures and systems of the world He came to completely turn upside down. Accepted just as I am, nothing to jump, so no fear in the attempt. The invitation is simply to relax and be you – totally and fully acceptable to God just as you are.
Then from this glorious position of uncaused acceptance go and accept others likewise. Imagine this world? Or rather, live this world, where everyone is accepted, where I never sit on the judgment seat to work out who has met the because test, I just simply accept everyone just as they are. You see the glory of God is God seen in me because when I reflect Him I am living fully alive. So when I live in His acceptance and live towards others with this same acceptance, God is seen in me, through me, his glory flows to all around me, and the world I touch is changed by His glory.
Application
Simple – live accepted completely just as I am on any, and every day, by God, and accept everyone I meet without the demands of because. Live free from the tyranny of the seat of judgment and bring the glory of God to earth.
Response
Thank you that you accept me completely, forever just as I am. Thank you that there is no turning in you from this position. Thank you that from this freedom and power I can accept others in the same way. Thank you for the beauty, your glory, this releases in my life. I am truly blessed.
Meditation
Meditation truth- “accept each other.”
Consider:
Who do I sit in judgment over and reject from my life because they do not meet my because test?
Do I live in the beauty of the full and never-changing acceptance of God?
JOURNEY DEEPER