Have you ever applied for entrance into an exclusive social club and been denied? Have you ever wanted to be included in the cool kids group? Have you ever wanted to just feel accepted? Well, when you are a child of God, you have been approved and accepted. Romans 15:7 says, “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”
As a child, you craved approval from your parents. You tried to get good grades, you auditioned for the play, you tried out for the football team, you did everything in your power to gain the approval you so craved. When you are a child of God, you also crave His approval. Knowing that you are approved by God give you a sense of peace and hope. It also increases your faith.
Because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the cross, we are children of God, we are brothers with Christ, and we are fully approved by God. Romans 8:15 says, “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba Father!’”
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). God has a purpose for each and every one of us. He has prepared good works for us to do in this world. This helps bring other people to know Christ. When we are accepted by Christ, we understand that our worth comes from God and not our own actions.
Most of us have desperately looked for and wanted the approval of others. In high school, you may want to buy the newest pair of tennis shoes to fit in with the crowd. In college, you may find yourself pressured to indulge in alcohol at parties. Once you graduate and are in the workforce, you may find yourself wanting to do anything possible to get ahead of your fellow employees. In all of these actions, we are seeking the approval of the world, that doesn’t matter at all. Rather than trying to please people, we should seek the approval of God above all else. “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10).
For the past few years, my husband and I have been diligently trying to get and keep our finances in order so that we could get a mortgage on the house we have been renting. This week we were told that it isn’t going to happen. We have done all we can and are now looking at alternatives to gain financing. To be honest, when I got the news that we were not going to be able to be approved, I fell apart. The approval we had so desperately worked for was gone. We are trusting in God’s plan for us and doing our best to faithfully cling to hope. We are clinging to verses like Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” And Romans
8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
We can be confident that God will indeed bless us beyond our wildest imagination because we know that God fully approves of us because of who we are in Christ. God is our Father and wants the best for His children. “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:26).
March 21, 2025
