Rejection–Who Am I?

One of the things I love to teach a new believer is ‘who they are in Christ’.  When a believer understands their identity, it can make all the difference in their walk with the Lord. But I’ve learned that often Christians can’t grasp the truths of ‘who they are’ because of a ‘spirit of rejection’ that many times enters through painful events in childhood, or even in the womb (unwanted child, accidental pregnancy, etc.)

When I took a counseling course a couple of years ago, I learned that no matter our background, we all have the same wounds.  Every person in the class, coming from a multitude of backgrounds, had the same ‘root’ issues that had caused problems throughout their lives.  Rich or poor; black or white; terrible dysfunction or a relatively ‘normal’ upbringing….all of us had the same root issues.  The Lord showed me rejection was essentially a taproot (a central vertical root from which other roots grow horizontally).

The spirit of rejection causes a believer to be unable to receive teaching about their identity (whether consciously or unconsciously).  They simply reject the Truth because it’s blocked by the spirit of rejection that tells them they are unworthy.  I believe it’s important to ask the Lord to reveal the place in life where rejection first entered, ask Jesus to go back to that place with us (in our mind and heart), and symbolically close the door that was opened to this spirit.  When this is done by a believer by faith in the Name of Jesus, the open door has to close!  That will then clear the way for Him to open the door for His Truth about our identity to be received.  The Word tells us,

Revelation 3:7 (NIV84)  “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of Him who is holy and true, Who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.

We’ve all experienced rejection.  Feeling rejected is one of the most heartbreaking of all human emotions because God created us to love and be loved.  Scripture tells us that we are loved, adopted and accepted, but the accuser assigns rejection to ‘steal’ those truths away from us.

John 10:10 (ESV) “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Rejection takes place in one of two ways: it really did happen or a person perceives it happened.  I’ve read that approximately 60-70 percent of all rejection is imagined. The spirit of rejection will take every expression, word, sound, etc. and twist it to make one feel rejected.

In addition, rejection is a form of unbelief that tells us that we are not accepted by God and in order to be accepted we first have to be accepted by men. It sets up man as our god by declaring that who we are and who we are not rests on the opinion of another who either accepts us or does not.

We must begin to accept ourselves as God has accepted us from the foundation of the world.  When we listen to rejection, we are making the words of man to be truth and the words of God to be a lie.

Romans 3:4a (AMP) “By no means! Let God be found true though every human being is false and a liar…”

Rejection can be defeated!  Scripture says the Lord Himself has accepted us. This is the foundation for freedom from rejection because if God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:31 (ESV) “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

God’s love and acceptance are antidotes to rejection.  To reverse rejection we must accept His love and acceptance without exception.  My dad often said, “God said it, I believe it, and that settles it!”  According to the Word of God, we are designed and created on purpose for His pleasure because He knew us before the very foundation of the world.

We have to know who we are in Christ!  God has accepted us, but we must also accept ourselves.  Self-rejection, self-hatred, guilt, unloving spirits, and emotions will all tell us that we are not ‘accepted in the Beloved’.

Ephesians 1:6 (KJV) “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

We know Jesus dealt with rejection because Isaiah 53 says clearly “He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (vs. 3).  He modeled for us that we could defeat rejection and refuse to allow it to be a part of our lives.  In His strength and through the work of the Holy Spirit (the Counselor), God will be there to meet us and close the door to rejection.  Only then can we be free to have the abundant life and peace He has promised!  Will you let Him?

Print by Rob Leuschke.

 

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