Acceptance

The single most biggest thing we all crave for is ACCEPTANCE. We all need it, well all want it; acceptance is what gives meaning to our lives. We all seek consent, from our parents, friends, lovers, spouses, even from complete strangers!

From infancy till we grow old, we want others to see what we have done, we want them to listen to what we say, to look at what we are wearing, and the list goes on... We are happy with a consenting nod and disappointed by a disapproved frown. A child will first show who he/she is, and if the child feels unaccepted he/she slowly tries to remodel according to the latest convention to fit in with the crowd, to be accepted as one of them. 

Girls going on crash diets, men trying to build muscles, youngsters trying to get hold of the next smart phone, older folk making arrangements to fit in with the younger crowd, westernization of eastern cultures, change in eating habits, changes in language and dialects, body art, hair color(hey stop looking at me!), junk food(I know it is tasty), smoking, alcohol, drug abuse, pre-marital sex ; are all examples of humans taking extreme steps to be 'cool' , to 'fit-in', to be 'hip', to be accepted by others.

But what is even more striking is that most of the above mentioned changes taking place in our society are seen among teenagers and youngsters. It is because they are the ones who need acceptance more than any other age group, full of fear of rejection they fall into folly of 'peer pressure', ending up doing things they would never have done with themselves if they knew they were accepted just as they are.

Dear young boys and girls, even if this material world, even if your friends, even if your own parents do not accept you, Lord Jesus will. He loves you all the way you are, He doesn't care whether your are fat, short, dark, uncool, buck toothed, ill dressed, poor, failure, nerd, stupid or any other worldly standards that make you feel low.

He created you in His image and likeness, He loves you, He accepts you, don't let the world fool you or blind you. You are perfect in His eyes.