Acceptance

"Acceptance of one's life has nothing to do with resignation; it does not mean running away from the struggle. On the contrary, it means accepting it as it comes, with all the handicaps of heredity, of suffering, of psychological complexes and injustices." Paul Tournier

As God continues to bless me to live this life, I have discovered that one of the most important lessons that I will ever learn is that of acceptance. Acceptance of the world around me, acceptance of others, acceptance of my decisions. I think once we accept things and people...life for what it truly is... then we can begin to really live. We can really embrace peace and joy.

I don't understand why things happen a lot of the time, but I would be the first to have an opinion and throw my little two cents around. What I have learned about life is, it's going to happen regardless. It all goes back to that God is in control thing. What I have learned about people is that they are going to do exactly what it is that they want to do. As I stated yesterday in my blog, the only thing that we can control is our own choices and that's it. We just have to accept others for who they are and if there are qualities that they possess that are not in line with God, then we can pray and offer words if need be.

One of the biggest mistakes that we can make is being judgemental. We take this approach much more often than that of acceptance. We want to bash people for decisions that they make and look down on them without even trying to understand where they are coming from. We want to send everybody to hell, but ourselves. Matthew 7:4 says, "Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?" We must be careful about judging those around us and we are just as guilty as the next person. My stupid may not be your stupid, but we all, at one point or another, have our own stupid.

God accepts us for who we are. In our broke down, sinful state, he accepts us. No questions asked. As we begin to accept others, it shows them that Hey! I respect you. Acceptance means that you are free to be who you are. Acceptance means that though there may be a need to grow, you are not forced. Acceptance means I welcome you. Jesus welcomes all of us. Who are we to act greater than the son of man?

Peace and Love.