We all want to be accepted and loved, but sometimes we don’t receive it.
In grade school, I was often picked on, leaving me feeling rejected, unloved, and even hated. Hoping I had left all of this pain behind in grade school, I discovered I was wrong. I remember one job I held where I experienced the same type of rejection from co-workers as I did in school.
When I was fourteen years old, my mom got into the car one day and committed suicide. My dad re-married. Seventeen years later, he left my home state after he divorced my stepmom. Other than stepfamily, I don’t have family on my mom's side or my dad's side to rely on. I am in my mid-fifties, but haven’t found a woman to love me and be my wife.
All these incidents have shaken my world and made me feel unloved. Sadly, in this fallen world, selfishness and other sins often get in the way of love and relationships. Sin, rejection, and conflict can turn our love cold and dull, but not Jesus' love.
When Jesus died, He was betrayed, whipped, and nailed to the cross with something similar to heavy spikes. He knows how it feels to be rejected, unloved, and hated.
Nevertheless, out of love for us, Jesus took on immense hatred from others and died for our sins. Now, we can spend eternity with Him if we simply accept Him into our hearts. When we go to heaven, we will live in a world where sin won’t get in the way of love.
If you haven’t, accept Jesus’ love and ask Him into your heart.
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
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Ken Ebright is a former Minnesotan who lives in Belleville, Illinois. He plays a keyboard, sings in a men’s choir, and does street witnessing.