Our greatest need of all

 in a previous post we said our two greatest needs are love and acceptance and work and value you probably noticed I mentioned four needs,  but we lumped  love and acceptance together   and worth and valiue together. But (in this writer’s opinion), acceptance is the greatest of all our needs by a country mile.

Acceptance is the nucleus of all our relationships, from the most intimate of marital relationships to our acquaintances on  the fringes of our sphere of influence.. 

As a curious adolescent teenage boy I craved my dad’s acceptance. I don’t believe I ever got it. There were isolated  incidence where he showed pride in some accomplishment of mine that I took as acceptance but those times were few and far between. Our relationship was adversarial until after I’d become a father myself.

My friend Daniel (Webster) describes acceptance as a “state of being desired or wanted, belonging, or having worth.” if we don’t feel acceptance in our lives, we may try to find it  in a gang or a cult. We may seek acceptance in unsavory places or with unsavory people or social outcasts–anywhere or with anyone who engenders those feelings that make us feel desired or gives us a sense of belonging no matter how toxic or unhealthy the relationship,.

My friend Daniel (Webster) describes acceptance as a “state of being desired or wanted, belonging, or having worth.” if we don’t feel acceptance in our lives, we may try find it  in a gang or a cult. We may seek acceptance in unsavory places or with unsavory people or social outcasts–anywhere or with anyone who engenders those feelings that make us feel desired or gives us a sense of belonging no matter how toxic,unhealthy, or harmful the relationship is.

Feelings of acceptance from friends and loved ones is central to our true identity in Christ.  Feeling truly accepted by Christ and accepting others as Christ sees them are essential for knowing and living out of our true identity in Christ.

More on acceptance in future posts.

I was a Feelings-Facts-Faith kind of guy

Before I learned my true identify in Christ, I lived decades in a “feelings-facts-faith” mindset.  I depended on my feelings (my emotions) to influence my choices and my thoughts. I rarely progressed to the “facts” (my choices were already made) of the matter. Faith was just something I talked about in Sunday School or heard in church. It was rarely a factor in helping me make life choices.

On my winding road to sanctification the Holy Spirit is teaching me that my feelings trigger one of two responses.  Hurtful things said to me or done to me triggered a reaction. My reactions were usually immediate and based on how the hurt made me feel. Then the conversation usually escalated to anger. And nothing got resolved.

Now, I can take something hurtful said or done to me and weigh it against Scripture and God’s truth (what the facts are). Then I can respond by putting my faith in God. Nailing  to the cross. Releasing it. And forgiving the offender.

I am learning bit-by-bit to check my feelings, seek the facts (the truth) then respond in faith. Am I able to get to faith in God every time? No. This is relatively new to me. A new course in my sanctification. The Holy Spirit is teaching me day by day, experience by experience.

I can say that when I’m able to respond and not react, I allow my trials and hurts to progress from feelings to facts to faith. When that happens I experience unprecedented and soul-gratifying joy and growth in Christ I’ve never felt before.

Give Yourself Permission To Be Sad

Please Don’t Call Yourself A Sinner

Struggling For Acceptance

Struggling for acceptance is often associated with alcoholics or drug addicts in their recovery. Lots of people who