I hate rejection. Candidly, my harshest critic is “me, myself and I.” My former employer, BT (British Telecom), flew me to Brussels along with my national sales team to put us through a grueling three-day self-analysis exercise. Working through the results with me, one of the instructors simply stated, “I wouldn’t want to be you.” Uh, not what I wanted to hear. My personality proved to include two overpowering scores. One, I have an intensely competitive drive. Two, I am harshly critical of myself. My results were placed on a graph showing these two overpowering scores pulling against each other. Emotionally, I was a wreck living in constant self-rejection believing myself to be a failure.
My spiritual journey has been cleaning this stuff up in my mind. Thank God for His wonderful word which divides soul and spirit and reveals the thoughts and intents in the deepest, darkest recesses of my mind (Hebrews 4:12).
John 3:16 is the best known and quoted verse in the Bible, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Yet, the verse following (v. 17) is equally as impressive, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” There is no condemnation in God but rather a desire to save us from the world, others, devil’s grasp and ourselves. We are not rejects.
Let me share several dynamite (don’t forget the Greek word for power is “dumanis”, the origin of our word dynamite) verses:
- Romans 8:1, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Notice our position in this verse. We “are in Christ Jesus” and God looks at His son and judges us not guilty…no rejection, no shame.
- 1 Peter 2:9, “But Y-O-U are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Y-O-U are “chosen…royal…holy…God’s special possession.”
- Be careful that you do not listen to the devil’s whispers that you are a loser or his loud roar to paralyze you with fear. John 10:10 shares both our quandary and the solution, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” The devil’s objective is to “steal, kill and destroy” your joy. At the same time, we are in the presence of Jesus who desires life at its fullest for each of us.
Don’t fall for the devil’s trap. He is a liar, “that’s just his nature” (John 8:44). “Jesus said, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’” (John 8:31-32). Relish whose we are. We are Jesus’ kids. Enjoy His abundant life to the fullest and fear not the darkness and rejection of the devil, a liar.
Barnabas Man 