God Doesn't Have A 'B Team'
Dear Friends,
My son, Josh, decided in this, his last year at secondary school, he would try out for the school football team. He was thrilled when he was told that he had a place on the 'B Team'. His skills weren't quite up to the standard of the 'A Team', but that didn't matter to us, all that mattered was he'd gone for it and given it his best. He was happy and we were happy for him.
It started me thinking about how we all have a need for acceptance and that for most things in life we have to meet a standard or a set of criteria in order to be accepted, for example, when applying for a new job, joining a team or club. Josh is applying for sixth form college and has an interview in February. Acceptance into college will be dependent on his application form, his interview and his exam grades.
We learn about acceptance and rejection early in life. It starts in the home for the child who is accepted with the unconditional love of the parent. However, some parents give the child the message that they are only accepted if they live up to their parents' expectations or if they look a certain way or have a certain character. These messages are reinforced at school, as we each long to be accepted and welcomed by our peers, and if we aren't accepted we have to deal with the pain of rejection.
With our need for acceptance and approval and with our fear of rejection, we can bend ourselves out of shape trying to fit in and be who others want us to be and we can wear ourselves out by trying to reach impossible standards.
We can take this mindset with us into our relationship with God. We think that he will only accept us if we prove that we are "good Christians" by doing the things we think we should do. We think that if we mess up then God is going to reject us. We think there's no way he could love me, I'm not good enough, not clever enough, not sporty enough etc. etc.
The good news is that God does accept you and me unconditionally because he loves us. Paul writes in Romans 5:7 "Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory." (NLT)
In Ephesians 1:4-5 we read "Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love. For He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be adopted (revealed) as His own children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [because it pleased Him and was His kind intent]— " (Amp)
Paul says in his letter to the Romans "Who will accuse those whom God has chosen? God has approved of them." Romans 8.33 (GWT)
We read in another of Paul's letters, "We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people." 1 Thessalonians 1:4 (NLT)
And in John's first letter he writes, "God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins." 1 John 4:9-10 (NLT)
These are just some of the verses in the bible that tell us God loves us, that he chose us and has accepted us. What we need to understand is that God doesn't choose us on the basis of who we are or because of anything we have done. Each one of us needs to come to the place of realising that there is nothing we can possibly do to earn his acceptance and love. His acceptance of us is based on who he is. He chose us because he loves us, God is love, that's his essential nature.
His love for us is constant, he doesn't say I accepted you yesterday, but today's another matter, I no longer accept you, you've messed up too many times, I've had it with you. Nothing can ever happen to make him remove his love from us. His love for us is steadfast, there is nothing we can do to make him love us more than he does at this very moment and there is nothing we can do to make him love us less than he does right now. It's worth repeating that his acceptance is not based on who we are, or try to be, on what we do or don't do. His acceptance of us is based on who God is, that's why we can have complete confidence and trust in him. He never rejects or turns away anyone who comes to him. When we realise that we don't need to earn his acceptance and love, then we are freed from the burden that comes with always trying to earn it and we are free to enjoy his love and acceptance and love him in return. It says in 1 John 4:19 "We love Him because He first loved us." (NKJV)
One last thing, God doesn't have an 'A Team' and 'B Team' (as Joshua's school has with football). God accepts each one of us completely, there is no first class and second class Christians, we are all on his 'A Team'. In Colossians 3:11 we read "In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us." (NLT) God says to you and to me, I've chosen you and love you, and I've got a place for you in my family that can only be filled by you.
To Think About:
Ask God to help you know in your heart, as well as believe in your head, that he has accepted and chosen you because he loves you so very much.
What difference does it make to your outlook and actions when you know that you are accepted by God?
How can you show God's love and acceptance to others in your church family?
Vicki
My son, Josh, decided in this, his last year at secondary school, he would try out for the school football team. He was thrilled when he was told that he had a place on the 'B Team'. His skills weren't quite up to the standard of the 'A Team', but that didn't matter to us, all that mattered was he'd gone for it and given it his best. He was happy and we were happy for him.
It started me thinking about how we all have a need for acceptance and that for most things in life we have to meet a standard or a set of criteria in order to be accepted, for example, when applying for a new job, joining a team or club. Josh is applying for sixth form college and has an interview in February. Acceptance into college will be dependent on his application form, his interview and his exam grades.
We learn about acceptance and rejection early in life. It starts in the home for the child who is accepted with the unconditional love of the parent. However, some parents give the child the message that they are only accepted if they live up to their parents' expectations or if they look a certain way or have a certain character. These messages are reinforced at school, as we each long to be accepted and welcomed by our peers, and if we aren't accepted we have to deal with the pain of rejection.
With our need for acceptance and approval and with our fear of rejection, we can bend ourselves out of shape trying to fit in and be who others want us to be and we can wear ourselves out by trying to reach impossible standards.
We can take this mindset with us into our relationship with God. We think that he will only accept us if we prove that we are "good Christians" by doing the things we think we should do. We think that if we mess up then God is going to reject us. We think there's no way he could love me, I'm not good enough, not clever enough, not sporty enough etc. etc.
The good news is that God does accept you and me unconditionally because he loves us. Paul writes in Romans 5:7 "Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory." (NLT)
In Ephesians 1:4-5 we read "Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love. For He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be adopted (revealed) as His own children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [because it pleased Him and was His kind intent]— " (Amp)
Paul says in his letter to the Romans "Who will accuse those whom God has chosen? God has approved of them." Romans 8.33 (GWT)
We read in another of Paul's letters, "We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people." 1 Thessalonians 1:4 (NLT)
And in John's first letter he writes, "God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins." 1 John 4:9-10 (NLT)
These are just some of the verses in the bible that tell us God loves us, that he chose us and has accepted us. What we need to understand is that God doesn't choose us on the basis of who we are or because of anything we have done. Each one of us needs to come to the place of realising that there is nothing we can possibly do to earn his acceptance and love. His acceptance of us is based on who he is. He chose us because he loves us, God is love, that's his essential nature.
His love for us is constant, he doesn't say I accepted you yesterday, but today's another matter, I no longer accept you, you've messed up too many times, I've had it with you. Nothing can ever happen to make him remove his love from us. His love for us is steadfast, there is nothing we can do to make him love us more than he does at this very moment and there is nothing we can do to make him love us less than he does right now. It's worth repeating that his acceptance is not based on who we are, or try to be, on what we do or don't do. His acceptance of us is based on who God is, that's why we can have complete confidence and trust in him. He never rejects or turns away anyone who comes to him. When we realise that we don't need to earn his acceptance and love, then we are freed from the burden that comes with always trying to earn it and we are free to enjoy his love and acceptance and love him in return. It says in 1 John 4:19 "We love Him because He first loved us." (NKJV)
One last thing, God doesn't have an 'A Team' and 'B Team' (as Joshua's school has with football). God accepts each one of us completely, there is no first class and second class Christians, we are all on his 'A Team'. In Colossians 3:11 we read "In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us." (NLT) God says to you and to me, I've chosen you and love you, and I've got a place for you in my family that can only be filled by you.
To Think About:
Ask God to help you know in your heart, as well as believe in your head, that he has accepted and chosen you because he loves you so very much.
What difference does it make to your outlook and actions when you know that you are accepted by God?
How can you show God's love and acceptance to others in your church family?
Vicki
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