Shine BrightSample

Day Four: Accepted Without Exception

You know those notifications that pop up when someone connects with you on social media? 

(Insert digital sound here.) “Grace has accepted your friend request.” Yes!

That always feels super good, right?

Feeling accepted is huge. Actually being accepted is even huger. Every girl I know craves acceptance. Not feeling accepted drives people to do crazy things; whereas confidence in your level of acceptedness is like pure gold. You know what I’m talkin’ about! 

When we tell girls they are always and forever going to be accepted, they have a hard time believing it. That’s totally relatable since our world is all about being accepted one minute and rejected another. You’re a part of them but then kicked to the curb. It’s exhausting.

We want to invite you to a better way: receive your welcome in Jesus, and extend it to every other person you know. In case that sounds a little confusing, let’s break it down.

Our verse for the day, from Romans 15:7, urges us to “welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you.” The word welcome here can also be translated as “accepted.” In other words, Romans 15:7 promises that Jesus accepts you. Period. No ifs or buts.

And because you have been accepted by Jesus, you are “in” with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit in the exact same way. You are accepted without the possibility of rejection. You can now accept others in the same way—totally, freely, and joyfully.

A sad, but major, reason girls reject each other is they’re afraid that, if everyone else is accepted, there won’t be a place for them. Someone has to be “out” for there to be an “in” crowd, right? Wrong!  

You have the ability to turn this world into a far more loving one. The more you welcome and accept others, the more Jesus’s love spreads throughout the world. Instead of being one of the rejecters in this world, be a girl who pursues and accepts as Jesus does.

And enjoy your own acceptance in Him. Embrace it! In most schools or workplaces, being in with the right person can seal your position in any group. That’s totally true of the spiritual world. You are in with Jesus, which means you’re in . . . always . . . everywhere . . . for eternity.

What if you could—once and for all—answer the question of whether you’re accepted? Do you think it might make a difference for your day-to-day life if you believed you’re accepted without exception?