Rejection
A friend shared that she attended a conference where the speaker noted she had felt rejected by her mother all of her life. When her mother was on her deathbed, she asked her mother what she had against her. Her mother wouldn't look her daughter in the eye, but said that she had saved enough money to leave her alcoholic husband with this woman's younger brother and sister then the mother found out she was pregnant with this daughter. The mother resented the daughter due to this turn of events that the daughter had no control over. The mother asked for forgiveness and the daughter gave it. But what a bittersweet ending, don't you think?
It's interesting how we can make choices in our own lives that cause consequences that we do not like, but then we quickly transfer those outcomes onto someone else even if they weren't a cause of the problem. A scapegoat for our behaviors, if you will. The flip side is also tragic, we live our lives being upset with parents or loved ones that we feel rejected us and instead of addressing the concern with the loved one, we harbor bad feelings until it's too late to heal the relationship. Or we blame those people that treated us wrong for our current behaviors and remain frozen in the past.
However you look at it, rejection hurts. Everyone wants to be accepted and loved. But parents, family, friends and others are only human. We are all cut from the same old sinned soiled cloth. We will let others down and be let down by others and that's a fact. So what do we do with the hurt and shame of rejection? We look to the cross where God sent His only Son to die for us. He rejects no one, all that call on the name of Jesus will be saved and have eternal life.
And forgiveness? If God can forgive us for all the sin in our lives and accept us into His Family, then we can forgive our family, friends and others that have caused us pain. Forgiveness from God is complete and final, we don't have to go back and dig around in our past for old dirt. The same goes for when we forgive others, we can bury it, smooth it over and move on.
It's interesting how we can make choices in our own lives that cause consequences that we do not like, but then we quickly transfer those outcomes onto someone else even if they weren't a cause of the problem. A scapegoat for our behaviors, if you will. The flip side is also tragic, we live our lives being upset with parents or loved ones that we feel rejected us and instead of addressing the concern with the loved one, we harbor bad feelings until it's too late to heal the relationship. Or we blame those people that treated us wrong for our current behaviors and remain frozen in the past.
However you look at it, rejection hurts. Everyone wants to be accepted and loved. But parents, family, friends and others are only human. We are all cut from the same old sinned soiled cloth. We will let others down and be let down by others and that's a fact. So what do we do with the hurt and shame of rejection? We look to the cross where God sent His only Son to die for us. He rejects no one, all that call on the name of Jesus will be saved and have eternal life.
And forgiveness? If God can forgive us for all the sin in our lives and accept us into His Family, then we can forgive our family, friends and others that have caused us pain. Forgiveness from God is complete and final, we don't have to go back and dig around in our past for old dirt. The same goes for when we forgive others, we can bury it, smooth it over and move on.
Jesus understands what it feels like to be rejected the consequences seen in this painting in a church in Gethsemane. If you are feeling hurt by others, take it to the One that will never leave you nor forsake you. (See Hebrews 13:5)
Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their face,
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their face,
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
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