FROM WHERE DOES YOUR ACCEPTANCE COME?

"Human beings, like plants, grow in the soil of acceptance, not in the atmosphere of rejection." - John Powell

It seems that almost everybody is affected by rejection to some degree. It's vital to understand how it works, and how to apply the cure. Rejection wounds us so deeply because it attacks our very person. It destroys our self-esteem, and attacks who we are and our purpose in life. This is why it is one of the most common tools that can destroy a person's life. Rejection has a way of destroying a person's life in a way that few other things can. The sad fact is that the number of people who are affected by rejection is staggering. Therefore overcoming rejection and it's effect is vital and absolutely essential.

Jason Stevens is a star of Australian Rugby League, a giant front row forward. He has represented his State and country on many occasions. But Stevens journey to the top of his sport was not easy. His mother migrated to Australia from Egypt when she was 17 years old. She married and had her four children, but then followed a horrific car accident that left Jason’s sister Vanessa seriously incapacitated, and a marriage break-up that left the family struggling financially and emotionally. When Jason was in primary school his mum bought him an Australian Rugby jersey. This was the first new item of clothing Stevens can ever remember owning. All his other clothes came from op-shops. Reflecting back on his upbringing Stevens said he was struck by two things. First he learned that love involved sacrifice. He discovered this watching his mother work two jobs to make ends meet, yet still find the time to transport her children to and from
sporting events. Stevens also learned where he could find a sense of worth and self acceptance. He says that even though he knew his parent’s break-up wasn’t his fault, nevertheless he still felt a keen sense of rejection, that he wasn’t wanted by his father, not good enough for him. So his sport became a source of self worth. Yet Jason soon came to realize it was a false sense of security, because it would pass with age. So where has Jason found a sense of security and worth? In God’s love for him. He says in an interview, "A lot of us get acceptance from sport or family or things like that, but ultimately you’ve got to base it on something stronger than that, something that will never change.

Many people who have faced rejection and abuse as a child, grow up with unresolved emotional wounds. Rejection causes emotional wounds, which if not cleansed and released, will grow and fester into spiritual wounds (such as un-forgiveness, envy, blaming God, jealousy, etc.). Those spiritual wounds open us up to evil spirits which love to take advantage of this opportunity to invade us.

Rejection can surface in forms as; rebellion in both children and adults, fabricated personalities (being somebody you aren't, in order to be accepted), the tendency to reject others, so that you aren't the first one to be rejected, the need to fit in or be accepted by others and be a part of everything, or inability to be corrected or receive constructive criticism.

God never wanted us to feel rejected or abandoned. His desire is for us to know who we really are, and realize how deeply we're loved, accepted, and appreciated, so that we can live out the fullness of what all He has ordained for us to be. God's Word tells us that without God, we cannot experience the fullness in our lives.a