Oct 24

Oct 24 Six Ways to Recognize You Are Accepted

Do you often feel beaten down or frustrated with yourself? Maybe you sometimes believe God doesn't love you or you're not good enough for Him? He wants you to know, He does love you.

We often use our own circumstances to be a gauge of God's love for us, but our circumstances are not a measuring stick of God's love. His love was made clear by Jesus' death on the cross. But because His love goes deeper than we can imagine, there are other ways he shows His love to us.

Here are only six ways to recognize this truth, out of many in the Bible. Embrace them, because they were meant for YOU.

You were made in God's image. (Gen. 1:27) This makes you a representative of God. He made you to resemble Him. It's not something you need to try to do. It's something He is doing through you. So, when you show acts of loving kindness and patience to your children, you are representing Jesus. When you extend grace by responding gently while you are angry, you mirror Him.
He does not count your sins. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19) Only we do that (and Satan helps remind us) and it hinders us from being in full fellowship with Him. Because we are so focused on how much [we think] we've let Him down, we can't embrace Him fully and hear His voice. We're too busy being sorry for who we are. Since we are offered such beautiful grace, it enables us to extend grace to our children. As we walk in freedom to love God, our children will as well. However, if we live continuously beating ourselves up over our sin, our children will do the same of themselves. This is where perfectionism creeps in.
You were not a mistake. (Psalm 139:15-16) God does not make mistakes. Everything He does has a purpose. It doesn't matter what other people think or have said to you. YOU HAVE A PURPOSE--and it is to bring glory to Him in the way He has called you to. Being a helpmeet. Mothering. Home keeping. Using your gifts and talents.
He chose YOU. (Eph. 1:11-12) Yes, he CHOSE YOU for a greater purpose than you have for your own life. He chose you to follow Him. He chose you specifically to be the mother of your children. There is no other you. You are unique and He made you that way. Embrace yourself. You are His creation, and what He has made is GOOD.
You are His child. (1 John 3:1) Going along with the previous point, God has chosen you to be His child. You were hand picked by God! This is something to be excited about! You need to understand this so that you walk in confidence of Him. Let your children see that you know you are His and that He loves you. Then they will know He loves them, too.
You are His treasured possession. (Exodus 19:5) Another way to recognize who you are is to know you are treasured by Him. Treasured. A valuable possession. The Bible talks about God being jealous over you. He doesn't want to compete with other things or people to get to you. He alone wants your heart -- all of it. When we pour our hearts into things other than Him; mothering, homemaking, blogging, <insert your "thing" here>, he's jealous. I am not saying these things are bad in the right balance and for the right purpose. But when we put these things above God and make it about us, He's jealous. Imagine your husband spending most of his available time with a friend or video/computer game. Wouldn't you be a little jealous for his time?