Week 2- “The desire to be Accepted pt. 2- The positive”
Last week we started the “Like Me” series and looked at what happens when we are willing to do anything in order to be accepted. Sometimes it’s good to be accepted and other times it leads us into becoming someone that God doesn’t really intend us to be. This week we’ll continue into the other part of our Like Me lesson.
Ok, you can say he’s pretty excited! That leads into the idea that sometimes acceptance can be a good thing and a lot of fun.
Everyone wants to be accepted, it’s a pretty simple fact. While we need to be our own person there is a desire in every person to be accepted and a part of something bigger than ourselves. It’s why we wear team shirts, logos, specific brands, and why we join clubs or teams in school. Last week we saw that there can be negatives from desiring acceptance for the wrong reasons. This week I want us to look at some of the positives that come from acceptance. We will also see that each and every person can experience what acceptance looks like.
The positives of acceptance
- It’s a natural desire –
- God knew that people would need others!
Gen 2:18
18 The LordGod said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” (NIV)
- It’s why He put spouses, friends, and family into our lives.
- Everyone has times where they need to be accepted by other people. (EX- negative effects of being alone)
- While some people can take it too far and be willing to do anything to be accepted by others there is a natural and healthy desire to be accepted.
I love this video from Rock Church. It’s one of my favorites. I love the example of those in “white” armbands accepting those still covered in “red” (sin). Helping them, sharing the truth with them, showing compassion, and a new way.
- Being accepted gives you a circle of influence! – 1 Tim. 3:1-7
This is a true saying: If a man is eager to be a church leader, he desires an excellent work. 2 A church leader must be without fault; he must have only one wife, be sober, self-controlled, and orderly; he must welcome strangers in his home; he must be able to teach; 3he must not be a drunkard or a violent man, but gentle and peaceful; he must not love money; 4he must be able to manage his own family well and make his children obey him with all respect. 5For if a man does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of the church of God?6He must be mature in the faith, so that he will not swell up with pride and be condemned, as the Devil was. 7He should be a man who is respected by the people outside the church, so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the Devil’s trap.
What Paul is saying here is that the leaders of the church need to conduct themselves in such a way that people who don’t even go to church still look at them with respect. When we have been accepted into a group we have the opportunity to speak into other people’s lives and we have the chance speak truth! We have and know the greatest message in the world and by having a circle of influence we get the chance to share that! This video is a great example of how you can influence your circle and the compound effects that it has.
Everyone can be accepted.
Matthew 9:11-13
11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
This is the greatest story of acceptance ever.
Application:
- We need to find someone who can accept us.
*This goes back to the idea that it’s good to have people in our lives who love us. We can go looking for acceptance in the wrong way so just be sure to remind students this is not what we are trying to say.
We need to use the relationships we have to share Christ with others.
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