It's Holiday Season--a holly, jolly time of year!  But likely someone's out there having to heal up due to experiencing rejection.  

We're Christians. We love God's people.  We expect that those professing Christ will accept us. But sometimes even professed Christians are capable of rejecting and disregarding others by their not allowing God to fully work in their lives.  Leaders in the Church or in Bible based Christian organizations are very capable of brushing off the people God brings to them as did the pharisees to Christ.

Christ came to the very ones that said they were waiting for the Messiah. Because Christ came not in the "package" they wanted, most of these religious leaders rejected Him.

What do we do when we find ourselves rejected even by fellow Christians or strong Biblical leaders?  How do we handle being scoffed at by a Sunday School teacher? How do we keep from sinning ourselves in being the receipients of what Christ experienced?  

What is the Christian response to rejection?

Continued from "Twelve Things to Do When You are Rejected"

Rebekah L. Holt

1. Give it to the Lord. Read Part One

2. Go to the Bible. Read Part One

3. Remember Christ was Rejected. Read Part Two

4. Recall that God is Sovereign. Read Part Two

5. Know that God is at Work on Your Behalf! Read Part Two

6. Realize Your Identity Before God. What does God think of you?  A human’s rejection can make us feel very worthless and meaningless.  Even when we know we belong to Christ, humans tend to make us feel horrible about who we are. Know what God says about His people.  When we confess ourselves as Christ’s followers, we are:

• God’s child (John 1:12)
• Bought with a price and belong to God (1 Cor. 6:19-20)
• Chosen and adopted by God (Eph. 1:3-8)
• Redeemed and forgiven of all our sins because of Christ ( Col. 1:13-14)
• Made complete in Christ (Col. 2:9-10)
• A Citizen of Heaven to Come (Phil. 3:20)
• God’s workmanship (Eph. 2:10)
• Free from condemnation (Ro. 8:1-2)

 (Read more from the beautiful scriptural outline: “Who I Am in Christ.”)

7. Beware of Counterfeits for Coping! In today’s world even some Christians and Christian leaders have cashed into many hollow “self-oriented” counterfeits to putting “shoe leather” to whole heartedly trusting, obeying and waiting on the Lord.  After bad things happen, many people (professed “Christians” included) look for quick, temporary solutions of comfort.  It is shocking how many seek comfort through eating, drinking (getting drunk), doing drugs, having a self-induced “problem” that can be labeled, drugged and pampered with therapy or medication, getting a new physical “image,” going on a spending spree, committing fornication, choosing to be a homosexual, abandoning a family, getting a divorce, aborting a child, casting off responsibility, etc.  Very popular today, there are “over wrought and stressed” Christians that are turning to the Hindu entrenched Yoga or the practices of Buddhism or some type of Eastern religious method of “redirecting”.  We see many seeking counsel or comfort with self-interest (how can I please myself?) at the core. To sum-it-all-up, they go on a binge of self-gratification or just trying to get out from under the pressure of a tough situation.  Such “man-made-efforts” ultimately lead to sin or actions that are blatantly an abomination to God!  It has been falsely said, If you can’t love yourself, you can’t love others. Christ said that if we want to follow Him, we will deny ourselves and take up our cross to follow Him (Mt. 16:24). He told us that if we love Him, we will do what He says (John 14:15). When we are focused on self, we hurt or neglect others too in the process of pleasing ourselves. Thus, we become as the very people who rejected and hurt us.

The Bible has told us to love God with all our heart, soul and mind (Mark 12:30).  We are warned not to seek after the world’s methods for deliverance (Is. 30:1-2). Jesus has told us that our situations are real and that He will help us!  God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble (Ps. 46:1).By seeking the world’s method of overcoming, we will find ourselves deluded and still in bondage. Seek Christ; He is the Way, the Truth and the Life (Jn. 14:6)! One of His ways of “redirecting” our sorrows or hurts is to give to and serve others. Our needs are going to be met even when we are giving out to someone else’s needs. It may seem or feel like we’re being overlooked, but God is faithful and truly concerned about us. God has our lives in His Hands.  We are not capable of changing most circumstances surrounding someone’s choice to reject us.  However, we are capable of not rejecting God’s methods or His truth that is free to us. And we are capable of not rejecting the people He wants us to serve. If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail (Is. 58:10-11).