Rick Warren's Daily DevotionalSample

God Says You Are Accepted Most of us spend our entire lives trying to earn acceptance. We want to earn it from our parents, peers, partners in life, from people we respect, maybe even from people we envy. The drive to be accepted is a deep drive that can influence the kind of clothes you wear, the kind of car you drive, the kind of house you buy, even the career you choose. Remember as a kid you wanted so badly to be in the in-crowd that someone would say to you, "I dare you to do this," and they'd suggest something that was either stupid, or that put you in an unsafe situation. But, you did it anyway because your desire to be accepted overruled the desire for safety. We do it because we love the feeling of "I'm OK, I'm accepted; somebody accepts me." When you're accepted, it does tremendous things for your self-esteem. The truth is Jesus accepts you and that acceptance is not based on your performance. In fact, you may have received Christ and accepted Jesus into your life, but do you realize that you're able to do that because Jesus accepted you? You don't have to earn his acceptance; you don't have to prove yourself to him. We need to stop thinking, "I've got an unpleaseable God up there and I've got to be a good boy, or good girl, to be accepted." God, through Jesus Christ, has already accepted you. And that's the Good News!