Fear Is A LieSample

“FEAR OF REJECTION”

All of us have experienced rejection in some sense, whether we were the last to be picked for the sports team, or we asked someone out and they said ‘no,’ or we went for a job and they never called us back. Rejection is a part of life and something that we all have to face, but the question is: Do we now embrace it or live in fear of it?

If we want to see how much fear of rejection grips us all, we need only take a look at social media. Social media has become more than a sharing and connecting platform and has become an affirmation device. When we upload a photo to Instagram, we ask ourselves, ‘Am I liked?' ‘Am I accepted?’

We know this because we become fixated on the number of ‘likes,’ and sometimes when it doesn’t get the acceptance or affirmation we hoped for, we feel rejected and we delete it, as if it never went up. Although this example is about social media, at some point in our life we all face rejection in some form, and it is easy for us to develop a fear of further rejection. This fear stops us taking risks and it stops us trying again. It limits us and holds us back from all that God has for us.

We can spend our whole life trying to get people to like and accept us, but the truth is we already received the one ‘Like’ that truly makes a difference. When Jesus died on the cross, he didn’t say, ‘When you are good enough I will accept you,' or ‘When you attend church for ten weeks in a row I will accept you.’ No!

The Bible says that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. If anyone has the right to reject us, it is Jesus, since he knows our every thought, word and action, past, present, and future. Yet he still chose to accept us. We will always have moments of rejection by man, but we have been, and always will be, accepted by our Maker. So let’s allow that revelation of love and acceptance to enable us to overcome the fear of rejection.