Self-Acceptance

Devotion 3 Strengthen ourselves through Self-acceptance

Ps.139:13;16 – “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb…and the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be”

Why does God want to emphasis that He created our inmost being?

“Inmost being” – in Hebrew idiom, it is a word used to describe “the center of emotions and of moral sensitivity”. Thus, God created our personality as well. We are who we are because God created us that way, physically, mentally and emotionally. God is directly involved in the biological process in fashioning each one of us into the person he wants us to be.

More than that, all the days of our lives are also under His sovereignty.

Ps.31:15 – “My times are in your hands…”

One of the most important keys to be able to encourage and strengthen ourselves in the Lord is self-acceptance, trusting God for who we are.  This is the believer’s foundation for self-acceptance. I am who I am, and you are who you are because God sovereignly and directly created us to be who we are. Self-acceptance is basically trusting God for who we are.

Many doubts and even hate themselves for their physical appearance or disability, lack of talents, lack of life partner, etc. They resent themselves, lose self-confidence, lose hope, and become angry with self and God.

God Doesn’t Explain

As teachers, trainers or coaches, or parents, we will usually explain the reason behind our action, like giving certain exercises or drills or punishment, as the reason states the purpose and the intended end result of our action, so that the recipient is motivated to endure the process.

However, in God’s dealing with us, He usually does not explain the reason.  In the case of Job, God didn’t explain to him the reason for all the suffering he endured. As readers, we are taken behind the scene to observe the spiritual warfare between God and Satan, but God never told Job about that. In fact, God didn’t explain to us why he allowed Satan to so afflict Job.

 

God did not explain to Joseph why he needed to go to prison before becoming a prime minister in Egypt. God also did not explain to Moses why he needed to be in the desert for 40 years.

Sometimes, in hindsight, we can see some of the beneficial results of the adversity in our lives, but we seldom can see them while undergoing the adversity. Joseph could see some of the benefits of his trials after he becomes the prime minister of Egypt, but he certainly could not see it while going through it. To him, the whole saga must have seemed devoid of any meaning and very contrary to the dreams given to him.

However, whether we see beneficial results of the trails in this life or not, we are still called upon to trust God that in His love, He wills what is best for us and in His wisdom, He knows how to bring it to pass. 

The ways and the thoughts of God are incomprehensible to man. His wisdom is fathomless, His decisions are unsearchable, and His methods are mysterious and perplexing.

Rom.11:33 – “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out”?

All our experiences of life, day by day, were written down in God’s book before we were even born. God created each of us uniquely to fulfill the plan He has ordained for us. God ordained our abilities and disabilities to fit into the plan He has for us. This plan embraces not only His original creation of us, but also the family and social setting into which we were born. It includes all that is seemingly chance or random happenings, and all the sudden and unexpected turns of events, both “good’ and “bad” that occur in our lives – all these were written in God’s book before one of them came to be.

Many believers have a huge dichotomy (division into 2 parts) between our head and our heart. We may say with our mouth that God is good, God is in control, but in our heart of hearts, there is no real faith in the goodness and love of God.

In our subconscious mind we struggle with whether God is selfish, He only has His glory in mind and human beings are just chess pieces in His chessboard to accomplish His purposes. Or whether God is only good to those whom He favors, but to the rest, He just let them suffer to accomplish His greater purpose.

However, the Bible teaches us that God does all things for His glory and for the good of His people. He never pursues His glory at the expense of the good of His people, nor does He ever seek out good at the expense of His glory.

Example of Nick Vujicic

Nick Vujicic is one of the seven known individual’s planet-wide who was born with a rare disorder, tetra-amelia syndrome which is the absence of arms and legs. According to his autobiography, his mother refused to see him or hold him when the nurse held him in front of her, but they eventually accepted the condition and understood it as "God's plan for their son."

Now he is a successful motivational speaker as well as an evangelist. He has formed an international non-profit organization Life Without Limbs as well as a secular motivational speaking company named Attitude is Altitude.

Self-acceptance and embracing the Sovereignty of God over our lives is the first step we need to learn in strengthening ourselves in the Lord!

 

Let’s conclude with the quote by M Scott Peck from his book – “The Road Less Travelled”

 

“Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult - once we truly understand and accept it-then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.”