How to Accept Love When You Don’t Feel Worthy of It
No one could love me … I feel empty … I’m not good enough … I don’t have the strength to love … I can’t be rejected again ….
Have you said any of these to yourself?
I know I have.
You don’t feel like you can accept love from Jesus because you’re not worthy of it. Or maybe you’re trying really hard but don’t feel it’s good enough.
The first thing you need to know is this …
You can’t do anything to change the love Jesus has for you.
That’s where it all starts.
Because He loves you, He chose to die for you. It’s all because of God’s grace.
You don’t have to earn it, just accept it.
Accept love …. Seems like a simple task, but because we are prisoners to our own thoughts, it’s nearly impossible sometimes.
After all, is there any critic harsher on yourself than you?
It’s so easy to blame ourselves for things, and it involuntarily gives us some kind of control over it. But tearing ourselves down because of things we’ve done, or have been done to us, only prevents us from accepting what Jesus wants to give.
If there’s a pain in your past, you are likely still fighting with it. No matter what it is, you had to deal with something that broke you at some point in your life.
Maybe you’ve never healed from it. Or you’ve recovered, but the healed areas are weak and feel like new cracks opening up any time there’s pressure.
The more pressure, the more the pain. Whether you feel that force from the outside world, or the inside world of your own thoughts, it’s pushing you farther from allowing love in your life.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8
Love is a gift.
It’s something given to us by God through Jesus Christ. But it’s hard to accept love when you don’t feel worthy or just too broken to fix.
Maybe you don’t think He could love someone like you.
If you feel that way, please know … His love is not conditional.
It exists whether you accept it or not.
He loves you and has shown you the highest form of that love by giving His own life for yours.
“And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16).
Even if you don’t think you’re worthy, once you believe in Jesus and confess He is the Son of God, He abides in you.
He accepts you and stands with you. It has nothing to do with you deserving it.
It’s a tough thing to grasp because we work our entire lives to be accepted.
We work so hard to please people. We don’t want to be rejected because even bad company can feel better than loneliness.
When we don’t feel worthy of the love Jesus gives, it bleeds into other areas of our lives. As a result, we tend to push others away, even unknowingly.
If Jesus already loves us no matter what, then what do we have to do?
We believe that Jesus is the Son of God who gave His life for ours, died on the cross, and was resurrected. Therefore, we accept Him into our life as our Lord and Savior.
If you struggle to put your faith in Jesus, you’re not alone.
Unfortunately, most of us have a hard time, especially when we are in a difficult place in our lives.
I’ve accepted Jesus as my Savior but still falter in many ways. It’s not a destination. It’s a journey.
I know the cunning ways of my own mind and the lies I’ve believed for many years about myself. There is never peace from what I tell myself.
But it’s different with Jesus. Believing His words takes a leap of faith … and something changes when I choose to trust Him.
But the way He reaches me isn’t the same as you because every person is different. You have a unique relationship with Jesus that’s completely yours.
He will reach you in ways you need, no one else.
But I encourage you to let go.
Let go of the burden of lies. Just for one day, talk to yourself as if you’re talking to your best friend or sister.
If she came to you saying she can’t accept love because she’s not good enough for Jesus, what would you tell her?
Jesus wants you to know that His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Mat 11:30).
We are surrounded by a world that doesn’t know Him. Every day within that world, seeing terrible things can test our faith.
I encourage you to listen to God’s word, not even your own. He will tell you the truth about yourself and the love He’s given you as a gift of grace.
Jesus knows what it’s like facing a world of rejection, hate, and pain.
But God is faithful, and Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33).
His love gives you purpose, strength, and courage. You are worth it.
