Acceptance

What is it about the human heart that desires to be accepted?
How is it that something that someone says about you can prick at the deepest part of your heart.. Even if you don't know the person, or it happened a long time ago?

We thrive off of acceptance.
We live when we know that people 'like' us.

People didn't like Jesus.
They tried to kill Him.
They did kill Him.
Horrifically.

And yet He Loved them.

He died to save the soldiers that placed the nail over the fragile, human skin on his hands and feet. For the people who stood there spitting and cursing His precious name. For the disciples who denied knowing the One who knew them. For every person that did not accept Him, but even more, tried to kill Him.

He didn't let their view change what He knew. That He was there to do His Father's work. He was there to save the people. He was there to bring them hope.

We are here to do His work. To let them know that He is here to save them. Our differences from the world is what makes us stand apart from them. Not better than them. But saved. Because of what He did, amid the hate, scorn, and rejection.

We are defined by Him. By His name, we have been saved. Not by what we do. If we are living to serve Him, then we should not be impacted by the shallowness that surrounds us. Because we are surrounded by it, this world is dripping with shallowness and selfishness.

And yet through that, His Love Never Fails.

Ever.