God’s Acceptance
Isaiah reminds us that all our accomplishments are like filthy rags before God. They don’t mean anything to God because we will never prove ourselves worthy of his love and acceptance no matter how much we are able to do. All our good works are marred by our sin.
That is why we call it grace. Grace is God’s undeserved love. We are not worthy of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross.
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8, ESV)
God does not love us because we are worthy of his love. He loves us in spite of the fact that we are not worthy. It is not about what we do. It is about what Jesus has done.
In theology, we talk about “works righteousness.” The idea behind works righteousness is that I need to go to church, read my Bible, pray enough, and do kind and good things. If I do all those things, and more, then God will accept me. Most people live with this mentality.
I will talk to people and tell them I am a pastor. Sometimes, when I tell them that I am a pastor, they will comment about how they can’t set foot into a church. They think that the things they have done disqualify them from “church” and that God would punish them for darkening the door.
But that person does not know God. That is not how God works. He is the friend of sinners, which we all are. There is not a single person God loves because of their “good works.” We make a confession almost every Sunday in our church that we are sinners and deserve God’s temporal and eternal punishment.
But at our baptisms, we were made children of God. God loves us not because of what we do but because of who we are. If you are a parent, you love your children. You love them because they are your children. Your children can do some dumb stuff, but you still love them because they are your children. And that is how God loves us, and to an even greater extent.
All that stuff we do as believers is not because we have to do it to measure up. It is not a “got to” but a “get to.” We serve and worship God out of gratitude for having received his grace through faith.
Acceptance of Others
It is great to know that there is nothing we need to do to earn God’s acceptance. But what about other people?
There will always be someone who is bigger, faster, smarter, more beautiful, more popular, more talented than you. And even if you impossibly become #1 in the world, know that someone else will soon take your place.
Still, we continue to strive and reach. We do so out of a need for acceptance. We try to show ourselves worthy through our accomplishments. We think that if we climb high enough, we will be seen as worthy of their acceptance.
Even if we “get in” we may still feel as if we don’t measure up. Imposter syndrome creeps in. Imposter syndrome is when we do not think of ourselves as competent as others believe us to be. We see ourselves as a fraud in a place where we don’t belong.
But what would happen if we flipped the script? Instead of striving for the acceptance of others, you actively sought to accept others. Look for ways to encourage and compliment others. I am not talking about flattery. But to genuinely take interest in and appreciate others.
You want acceptance, it starts with giving acceptance. You want respect, give respect. You want love, give love. You want friendship, be a friend. Instead of striving to get, strive to give. And you might be amazed that you will receive back ten-fold.
You may think that others are not worthy of such things from you. But remember that you were not worthy of God’s acceptance either. But he continues to welcome you in his grace.
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