Acceptance - 10

Text: Romans 12:9-21

Today we will close our study on Acceptance. I don’t know what God has for us in the future but will be in prayer as we put together a new study to follow this one. If you would join me in prayer to that regard I would be grateful.

For today, though, we’re going to get a final grasp on a concept that ties all this acceptance together. We’ve looked at when others don’t accept us, or when we don’t accept others. We’ve studied the beautiful love of God in His acceptance of us. We’ve looked at surrendering our desires and accepting God’s plan for our lives. But I believe the bottom line that would boost the effectiveness of all of these is accepting Him. Accepting God for Who He says He is, accepting what He wants to accomplish in our lives, and how He wants us to be used in His awe-inspiring plan. Accepting His character as Holy, complete, and our ultimate standard.

While there is no way we could really go in depth into this entire subject in a single post, or even in our entire lifetime, we’ll dig into it enough that we can apply the principles to our lives today, and build a foundation for the way we think and act.

DO: Begin in prayer. Ask God to clear your mind of anything that might be a distraction today, and that might persuade anything other than His precious Words to speak to your mind and heart right now.

In our text today we see some of the commands God gives us. I want you to look just past the command and into the character of the Holy God behind it.

Read Romans 12:9-21.

By looking at even just this small list, and realizing that God would never hold us to a standard that He Himself does not uphold… realizing that these give us a small picture of who God is and what He is like, does that sound like someone you would love to emulate? Love to follow? Even love to just be around? Of course it does.

DO: Write out a list of those commands, starting at verse 9 and going all the way through to verse 21. This may take a few minutes, but I’ll wait.

Did you pretty much write out the whole passage? I did.

It’s a tall order that’s for sure. And I bet, if you’re anything like me, some will come easier and some will be harder. But know that God has got them all down pat. In fact, He’s the basis for this kind of behavior. This kind of behavior would not even cross our minds on our own. Our sinful nature is wired opposite of His, and so we not only don’t exhibit this behavior naturally, we naturally reject it. We reject it because it’s in opposition to our nature. Following me?

But as a child of God, everything changes. We accept Him, because He accepted us just as we were. No cleaning up needed. No façade, no polish… not even makeup. Just us.

1 John 4:19 “We love him, because he first loved us.” KJV

Love here is from the word agapaō, meaning to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly.

Q: Which part of the meaning of agapaō touches you most deeply?

And that’s it. That’s the only thing we can claim- is His love. Ours is merely a response. And that’s all He asks. The rest – the list of instructions, and everything right would come as part of that response. Part of accepting His unspeakable gift.

2 Corinthians 9:15 “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” NASB

Indescribable here is from the Greek word anekdiēgētos, and it’s the only time we find it in the Bible. Its meanings are

Anekdiēgētos: unspeakable, indescribable

or the negative form of ekdiēgeomai: to narrate in full or wholly; to relate, tell, declare

In other words, there’s no way to fully relate it. No way to completely tell how great and awesome His gift is.

How then, do we even begin to accept it?

Doesn’t God just blow you away?

And that’s what faith is. Accepting without fully seeing. Without fully knowing. One day, sisters, we will know, see and understand Him. One day, but not this side of Heaven. But aren’t we grateful? Here’s why this makes me grateful. Because to fully know and understand Him it would be easier to put myself in a position I do not belong. I belong in the finite. I belong where I don’t understand. This keeps me humble.

Romans 12:16 “Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.” NASB

John 13:7 “Jesus said to him, you do not understand now what I am doing, but you will understand later on.” AMP

Romans 11:33 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” NASB

Job 9:10 “Who does great things, unfathomable, and wondrous works without number.” NASB

So, accepting Him isn’t some lofty, unreachable aspiration. It is a humble one. To humbly just accept. Ungrasp your stubborn fist, and open your hand to accept.