The Need of Acceptance

We all crave for acceptance. And each one of us certainly knows very few, if any people who can accept us unconditionally. Most of us have great problems accepting our own selves. According to the so-called school of "Human Scale Development", represented by Manfred Max Neef, Antonio Elizalde and Martin Hopenhayn, basic human needs are the same in every culture and through all time-periods. The differences between these cultures occur when it comes to applying certain strategies to satisfy these basic needs. First of all, human needs should be regarded as a system, so they are interactive and interconnected. There is no hierarchy of needs in this system, like in the case of Maslow’s famous pyramid.

Max-Neef states the basic human needs are those of: subsistence, protection, affection, understanding, participation, creation, identity, freedom, and recreation (meaning finding time to relax, enjoy life, meditate or simply pause from any activity.)

Acceptance has a lot to do with self-discipline. Most any aspect we don’t like about ourselves can in fact be changed, if we are willing to take the effort and turn things around. When denying your state of discipline, you are very likely to have a totally wrong perspective on reality. This can be due either to overly pessimism, or to overly optimism regarding one’s true capacities.

One may struggle all his life to achieve acceptance from other people, without very good results. I mean that unconditional kind of acceptance, that gives us the feeling of freedom, the sensation that life is worth living every day. But in order to get there, perhaps it takes a supernatural power to fully accept us. And that higher power can be found in Christ.

How exactly is one fully accepted in Christ? First of all, he/she is a child of God: "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, he gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12
Then he is Jesus’ friend: "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." John 15:15

He is acceptable to God: Romans 5:1 "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

1. He is united to the Lord and one spirit with Him: "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?" 1 Corinthians 3:16

2. He has been bought with a price. He belongs to God: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20

3. He is part of Christ's Body, part of His family: "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." 1 Corinthians 12:27

4. He is a saint, a holy one: "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus" Ephesians 1:1

5. He has been adopted as Christ's child: "In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will." Ephesians 1:5

6. He has been bought back (redeemed) and forgiven of all his/her sins: "in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Colossians 1:14

7. He is complete in Christ: "and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority." Colossians 2:10

8. He is seated with Christ in heaven: "And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus," Ephesians 2:6. Oh if we only believed that to its full extent! Wow, what a life a Christian would have!

9.He is God's building project, His handiwork, created to do His work: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

10. He is able to do all things through Christ who gives him strength: "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13

You have everything you need when you realize God's love for you and the resources you have at hand in HIM. Make sure you know what your heavenly accounts are filled with because you are so rich yet, the lack of knowledge might hinder you from using your richness in Christ.