I Am Accepted

DEVOTIONAL BY GUEST WRITER JOY MARGETTS

…to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace… Ephesians 1:6-7

Within us all is the deep need for acceptance. Our children grow up trying to fit in and that can lead to dangerous and unhealthy subjection to peer pressure. The pressure is to conform to the things that the world deems important, rather than to live under the truth of what God says. Young people want to be accepted, because the alternative is to be different from the crowd, and to be different can make you a target. It is so sad when young people grow up taking their sense of identity from what others pressure them to be.

But even as adults we seek acceptance too. We don’t want to be rejected, or feel left out. We may be less driven to change ourselves, according to the expectations of others, but we do want to be accepted for who we are. Everyone needs to feel they belong.

In these verses God tells us an extraordinary truth; He has ‘made us accepted in the Beloved.’ In other words, He loves and accepts us in the same way as He loves and accepts the Beloved One, Jesus Himself.

I don’t have to work to be accepted by God. I can come to Him just as I am and know that He accepts me. Knowing this truth, knowing how He loves and accepts me should quieten my soul against the need to fit in with the world’s expectations. My identity is in the fact that I am ‘in Him’ and sealed for all eternity as His – to bring praise and glory to Him.

PRAYER: Thank You Father that I am accepted. I am drawn in, given a place in You, know where I fit in, because of Your love for me.  Jesus, You made it possible for me to know acceptance because You were willing to give Yourself for me. Thank You that I am Yours, for all eternity.

Thank You Father that You look at me with the same love as You have for Jesus, Your Beloved Son. Help me to understand the enormity of that, and to take my identity from who You say I am.

I stand at the foot of the cross today and know that I am fully accepted.

Read more: Ephesians 1:3-14

This devotional was first published in the book Because of the Cross. You can find out more about Joy and her books at https://joymargetts.com