Acceptance is acknowledging that we are all made in God’s image and we are all welcome to sit at the table.
An accepting person is…
• willing to treat somebody as a member of a group
• non-judgmental
• welcoming to those different them himself/herself
• loving and happy with who they are
The virtue of ACCEPTANCE is the grateful embrace of self, situation and others. Sometimes we find ourselves in situations where it is easier to follow the crowd than to stand up for what we know is right. However, Jesus wants us to accept everyone even those we consider unlovable. We can do this bylooking at people from a more compassionate perspective. By embracing the people the rest of society shuns we follow Jesus’ example of acceptance for all.
The Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbour as yourself.
Matthew 22: 37-39
God does not love us because we are valuable. We are valuable because God loves us.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Nothing is a greater impediment to being on good terms with others than being ill at ease with yourself.
Honoré de Balzac