Later Jesus was going about his business in Galilee. He didn't want to travel in Judea because the Jews there were looking for a chance to kill him. It was near the time of Tabernacles, a feast observed annually by the Jews. His brothers said, “Why don't you leave here and go up to the Feast so your disciples can get a good look at the works you do? No one who intends to be publicly known does everything behind the scenes. If you're serious about what you are doing, come out in the open and show the world.” His brothers were pushing him like this because they didn't believe in him either.”Fear of rejection is a big deal. It always make the Top 10 lists. In fact, it's most often in the Top 5. Fear of rejection keeps us from being all that we can be. It keeps us from being our true selves. It causes others to feel a lack of confidence in us. While we can recognize it in ourselves, it can be difficult for others to pick up on. We may not realize that the person we work with and who seems so confident is suffering from a fear of rejection—fear of our rejection. Before you claim not to care what other people think, let's see some different things that are wrapped up in this challenge: exclusion, repudiation, dismissal, alienation renunciation, disappointment, deficiency, disapproval, and divorce.
John 7:1-7 (The Message)
The challenge of rejection hits us where it hurts. It feels like an attack on the very core of ourselves. It's one thing to face rejection from the people who don't know us. It's quite another to face rejection from those who we feel we're supposed to be able to count on to support us! That's a rejection that leaves us reeling. It also leaves most of us determined not to put ourselves in the position for that to ever happen again. We close ourselves off, and it is such a challenge for anyone to get through to us.
We are mostly familiar with the times in Jesus' life and ministry when the teaching and religious leaders of the Jews challenged him and tried to bring him down. But in the account above, it's Jesus' own brothers who didn't believe in him. They ridiculed him—their very own brother who was the Messiah. They didn't believe in him.
Choosing a life that puts Love First challenges those feelings of rejection. It challenges us not to close ourselves off from others. It challenges us to meet those feelings with Love First.
Your Mission
In your prayer time today, ask God to help you to keep from rejecting someone else and to look at them with the eyes of Love First.
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