I strongly believe that it is where you place your identity. Do you, like me, have a hard time receiving criticism or admitting you are wrong? I have learned that I have based my identity in being right. When we internalize what other’s say about us, we open ourselves up for rejection.
For instance, if you are basing your identity on what your family thinks of you, the moment a hint of disapproval comes from them, it is going to hurt you because, they are the source of your identity.
Who or what defines you?
Is it your job?
Is it what you think about yourself?
Is it your parents?
Is it your friends or neighbors?
How much money you have?
What you wear?
Is it how pretty, tall, or strong you are?
Will these things define you after you die?
When we seek approval from others we are setting ourselves up for failure. Honestly, only God can be trusted with our identity. We were created to be loved, accepted, and appreciated by God. Operating out of a spirit of rejection, opposes who God created us to be. We were never meant to live apart from God and base our identity on the things of this world.
The key to overcoming rejection is to solve identity problems. When we shift the basis of our identity in the word of God and what he has to say about us, we become rejection proof. When we no longer place our identity on what others say about is, we become immune to the words that cause rejection.
What does God say about you?
– You are God’s Child (John 1:12)
– You are His friend (John 15:15)
– You are united with the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:17)
– You have been redeemed and forgiven (Colossians 1:14)
– You are free from any charge against you (Rom 8:31-34)
– You cannot be separated from God’s love (Rom 8:35-39)
– You are God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10)
– You are complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10)
As we embrace his declarations about us, our identity grows.
I wish I could tell you that there was a magic wand that would take away the rejection in your life. But there isn’t. In order to overcome and fully settle rejection issues, you must embrace that you are loved, accepted, and appreciated by GOD!
Receive it!
You must receive who you are in Christ! You are a new creation who is called to life, purpose, and meaning in Christ.
While I dealing with my own self-loathing rejection issues, God spoke to me and said …
How is your heart towards the person who rejected you?
Do you love them as I have commanded you?
Forgiving the person who has rejected you is very important in the healing process. Chances are the person who has hurt your is also operating out of a spirit of rejection.
Wounded people, wound people.
Every time I experience a season of rejection, I end up taking a deeper plunge into God’s all accepting, never-ending Grace. Without accepting any of my sinful behavior, God through Christ made a way to accept me, even as a rejected failure. Jesus loves the unlovable. He loved the greedy tax collector, the prostitutes, and the Lepers.
His love is beyond rejection.
When we turn from rejection to the love of Jesus, we find a fresh dose of grace and find the love that we have been seeking, is seeking us!
Once we get on the other side of rejection and begin to see what it feels like to be accepted by God, we begin to stand securely in our identity as sons and daughters. We should also strive to see others the same way. Grace flowing out from within us changes us!
When we get used tom admitting our own need for grace, we begin to shift and begin treating others the way that God treats us.
Graced people, grace people.
Recovering from rejection begins with bringing our rejection to God and sitting in his presence. Listening, Hearing, and knowing what his has to say about you and living out who God created you to be.
