"Following Jesus, the humble in heart waste little time in introspection, navel-gazing, looking in the mirror and being anxious about their spiritual growth. Their self-acceptance without self-concern is anchored in the acceptance of Jesus in their struggle to be faithful. They fasten their attention on God." - Brennan Manning
Jesus accepts me regardless of myself. What He did on the cross by willingly sacrificing His life for me has forever made me an adopted son of God. I am one of His ragamuffins. The only stipulation for this acceptance was that I say, "Yes." I have to say yes to His sacrifice and yes to surrendering to Him. That's okay, because whoever lays his or her life down for Jesus receives it back with fullness and grace. When we say yes to Jesus we receive eternal life. So laying my life down for Him is not like choosing to be someone's doormat. I'm not choosing to be bossed around and bullied. It's more like being in love for a lifetime and choosing that person to share life with.
Here are 7 of the many ways Jesus personally accepts me just the way I am.
7. I wasn't born into greatness. I am not royalty. I am not wealthy. I am not famous. I am not drop-dead sexy. But Jesus accepts me without being great. He makes me great because He accepts me.
"But you are God's chosen and special people..." (1 Peter 2:9)
6. I mess up. Jesus accepts me even though I mess up on a daily basis. He has forgiven me for everything because I chose Him. There are still consequences that can come in life depending on how I mess up. But as far as Jesus is concerned I am righteous, meaning I am right with God.
"Christ never sinned! But God treated him as a sinner, so Christ could make us acceptable to God." (2 Corinthians 5:21)
5. I don't always believe. Sometimes I doubt not only myself or others, but also God. I doubt His feelings about me. I doubt His ability or I doubt His willingness to help. In spite of these doubts Jesus accepts me completely and I am still a son of God.
"But he replied, 'My gift of undeserved grace is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak.' So if Christ keeps giving me his power, I will gladly brag about how weak I am." (2 Corinthians 12:9)
4. I am wrong. I don't necessarily know what I'm wrong about, but I know I am wrong about many things. I am just a guy with some education, some training, and some experience that tries to follow Jesus as well as possible (most days) and help others to do the same. But even when I am wrong and no matter what I am wrong about, Jesus honors me with His acceptance.
"God is the one who began this good work in you, and I am certain that he won't stop before it is complete..." (Phil. 1:6)
3. I don't always feel close to God. In spite of this, He's with me constantly.
"I am sure that nothing can separate us from God's love—not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future. (Romans 8:38)
2. I can be mean. Sometimes I am intentionally mean. Sometimes I am just really grumpy. And sometimes I appear mean just because I am shy or an introvert. Either way, even when I am mean, even when I am horrible, Jesus is kind to me.
"The Lord is always good and His mercy endures forever." (Psalm 100:5)
1. I deserve hell. Yes, I do believe in hell as I also believe in heaven. They aren't imaginary and they aren't some kind of transcendental state of mind. They are places. I deserve hell because I am a sinner. Sin, anything that is contrary to what is good and right, separates us from God - UNLESS we say yes to Jesus. Then that sin is forgiven and we are no longer separated. We will sin some more, but it's forgiven too and we never have to fear of being separated from God.
"You surely don't think much of God's wonderful goodness or of his patience and willingness to put up with you. Don't you know that the reason God is good to you is because he wants you to turn to him?" (Romans 2:4)
"The Christian is in a different position from other people who are trying to be good. They hope, by being good, to please God if there is one; or — if they think there is not — at least they hope to deserve approval from good men. But the Christian thinks any good he does comes from the Christ-life inside him. He does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us; just as the roof of a greenhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it." - C. S. Lewis
(PS. Why did I choose the photo in this post? Because it very much represents to me what Jesus' acceptance does. It washes me. He sees everything about me, but He accepts me in spite of all my imperfections. If there was ever such a thing as unconditional love, it's His.)
