Talking to Myself... sort of

A couple days ago, I was having a discussion with a student who was working on a paper. She was writing about malnutrition and starvation in the world and about Compassion as a response to poverty. She presented her introduction to her teacher and was prompted to reconsider her topic. The topic wasn't outside the bounds of the assignment, but the teacher suggested that when she presented the paper in class, the other students might put her down for it.

My response to her, in encouraging her to do the paper as well as possible, was that it doesn't matter who rejects us when Christ has already accepted us. I hope she'll do well. I hope she opens some eyes to how Christ (active in our actions) is the answer to this issue.

As I thought about what I'd said, I realized that I need to hear that, too. It really doesn't matter if people reject me because Christ has already accepted me. I'm a peacemaking type of person. This is great in helping other people resolve their conflicts, but it also leads me to a severe concern with how other people see me. I worry too often about how my actions will be perceived or misperceived. I don't need to. I'm loved by God. I have His acceptance. There's no need to present a mock up of myself. (There's a book by Brennan Manning called Abba's Child that digs into this idea much more deeply.)