Confessions of a Pastor: I got acceptance issues

This is obviously a tough one to write about because it hits a core need I believe we all have.  You can call it whatever you want to call it: being connected, fitting in, having a place to belong, being cared for and the list goes on.  The bottom line is we all want to be accepted.  I want to be accepted.

I'm not completely sure when my acceptance issues started but I would initially venture to guess it has something to do with childhood.  It could have been: my parents divorce when I was young.  Maybe it happened in Junior High when I desperately tried to fit in with everyone else so everyone wouldn't realize how messed up we are were.  Did it happen in High School when I wanted to be like people who I thought were cool.

I spent hours trying to locate the exact time in my life my acceptance issues began.  As much as I tried to figure out the problem on my own, I decided it was time to turn to Scripture to solve my issues.  Then I found this:

'This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the Lord.
I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,"
declared the Lord.  Jeremiah 31:33,34

After hours, days, weeks, even months of searching I'm pretty sure I found the problem.  The problem that I face with acceptance is I am constantly looking to my left and right for acceptance.  For so long I tried to find acceptance from people who could never meet my needs.  The people I was looking to be accepted by were also looking to be accepted by other imperfect people.

I was looking at the things around me to accept me and I fail to look to the God who created me.

Now I wish that I could say every day I remember this truth... but there are days I fail to remember.  There are days I fail to remember how much God loves me.  I fail to remember that Jesus died on a cross for my sins.  I fail to remember that because He died I don't have to look for acceptance from others but that He accepts me for who I am.

My acceptance issues now lay in the hands of a caring God who accepts me for who I am.