A Prayer About Acceptance
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Romans 15:5-7
Lord Jesus, I’m in one of those seasons in which I’m especially “tuned in” to who I am relationally, and my need for grace and wisdom to walk with those I love. My greatest source of joy and peace in life is knowing, deep in my heart, that you have already fully and eternally accepted me. Jesus, you will never love me more than you do today and you will never love me less. And what’s true for me is true for your entire beloved Bride.
I’m also VERY thankful today, heavenly Father, to remember your commitment to give endurance and encouragement as I seek to love the rich diversity of people you have placed in my life-family, friends, and strangers. Your provision frees me from shrinking, faking and excuse making in my relationships.
Today, in particular, Father, I’m thinking about what it means to accept others as Jesus has accepted me. Here’s what I’m praying the gospel will do in my life:
Jesus, please enable me to see people with your eyes. My vision is warped by my self-righteousness, my brokenness and my agendas for others.
Jesus, please give me a welcoming heart, your welcoming heart, so that the first thing people encounter in me is not my insecurities, busy-ness, or disconnect, but your greeting, intrigue and kindness.
Jesus, please free me to overlook the things, that in the final analysis, don’t “amount to a pile of pinto beans”. The older I get the “less ado” I want to make about the “nothings” of life, and the more “ado” I want to make about the things that really matter.
Jesus, please show me the difference between accepting others where they are and acquiescing to things that are truly unacceptable, like when friends choose to live destructively.
Heavenly Father, I want to live and love this way in order to bring praise to you. Indeed, through the power of the gospel, help me to love your glory more than I love non-messy relationships. So very amen I pray, in Jesus’ name.
