Accepted by Love
The student ministry spent the month of January discussing the subject of being accepted and the feeling of wanting to belong. As we explored things that interact with our acceptance such as our thoughts, social media, words, and actions we started to see a theme. Being accepted or accepting others involves learning to love.
As we enter February it seems like love is on display, but maybe not the love Jesus accepts us with. I know that every store I walk into there will be some aisle with tons of red and pink hearts, teddy bears, candy, and many sappy cards. This type of love is nice, but is often the type of love we are seeking to be accepted by. This type of belonging has all the feelings attached, but cannot be as permanent as belonging to God.
Once we discussed that we are loved, valued, and accepted by God, we talked about how we can accept others and help make them feel that they belong. Each of the weeks we discussed something different we could use, like our thoughts, social media, words, and actions. All of these things can be used to help encourage and build up others, or tear them down. How are we using our thoughts and actions? How are we using our social media? If we understand that we are truly accepted and loved by God, then how do we not accept others? This month we have the opportunity to use the flood of love messages to truly reach out and accept someone through the love of Jesus. Whom will you accept?