Week 1
Acceptance
Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.
Romans 15:7
Do you find it hard to accept others? Some people are easier to accept than others. Close your eyes for a moment and visualize someone hard for you to accept. Do you visualize someone using drugs or alcohol, someone with mental illness or disability, someone who committed adultery, a woman having children out of wedlock? Accepting someone doesn’t mean you are agreeing or approving with things this person does. It means accepting the person created in God’s image. We sometimes get weak in our Christian walk and need our brothers and sisters in Christ to be patient with us and give us hope. Imagine Jesus saying to the Samaritan Woman at the well, “Go back and clean up your mess first. Prove you are good and then come back to me and I will give you living water.” Imagine Jesus saying that to us. Jesus does not do such. Is your church meeting people with rules first or with living water, patience and grace that have transformative power. Romans 14:1 also says, “Accept other believers who are weak in faith,…” Some of us are weak in faith and we need your acceptance and help, not your condemnation.
God, help us accept one another as You accept us for Your glory. In Jesus’ Name, I pray. Amen.