Single And Accpted In Love
(Guest post) By Aretha Grant
“To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved,” (Ephesians 1:6).
In January 2017, my daughter applied to the performance arts school in my town. Waiting until March to learn whether she was accepted was torture. I remember the day she checked the mail and saw a letter from the school. I was sitting in the driveway of our home, and I heard her screaming and then saw her running toward me. I couldn’t tell by the expression on her face if she was screaming from excitement or crying from disappointment. When she got to the car, she started jumping and said, “Mom, I was accepted. I was accepted.” I got out of the car and began jumping with her. We were both excited. She’d been accepted into the high school for the arts.
Doesn’t it feel good to be accepted? Oh, I’m not talking about Webster’s definition: regarded favorably; given approval or acceptance; generally approved or used.
No, no, no. I’m talking about the Greek definition of the word as seen in Ephesians 1:6: indue with special honor; make accepted, be highly favored. The Greek word is “charitoo,” and according to Strong’s, the biblical usage includes: to persue with grace, compass with favour, to honour with blessings (see Strong’s G5487).
Now, that is what I’m talking about.
Dear Christian Single, I am here to tell you that you too have been accepted. You are ACCEPTED in the beloved. You are now free to enjoy all the blessings which come from being accepted in the beloved: persued with grace, compassed with favor, and honored with blessings.
I’m going to let that sink in for a moment………
[bctt tweet=”Since you have already been accepted in the beloved, you don’t have to work for acceptance with God or anybody else. In this one verse, you have every reason to stand confidently in your single status NEVER settling for unhealthy, ungodly relationships.” username=”MendTheVow”]
You can be confident knowing being single does not relegate you lower in importance or significance than your married counterparts. Being single does not mean you’ll experience less happiness and fulfillment than your married counterparts. Being single does not mean you’re undesirable.
On the contrary, you are just as important and significant to God as anyone else. You can experience happiness and have a fulfilled life regardless of your marital status. And you are desirable.
Being accepted by God means you don’t have to settle for unhealthy relationships. It never ceases to amaze me how many Christian women settle for men because they don’t want to be alone. These men abuse them, use them, and confuse them, but they stay in the relationships because they don’t want to be single.
Never settle for a relationship, compromise your morals, or lower your standards just to be in a relationship. Wait on God. Wait for Him to bring the right man for you. One of His sons. Someone who will accept you the way God does. Someone who’ll love you as Christ loves the church. Someone who will treasure you the way God does.
Yes, you are accepted by God. You don’t have to work for acceptance. You simply need to relax in it, live in it, and embrace it. As you press into God, you will find that He presses more closely to you. He will persue you with a love no man can provide. He will compass you with favor, and you’ll see doors opening that no man could have opened for you. God will honor you with blessings which will leave you and others around you scratching your heads trying to figure it out.
The same way my daughter displayed her joy at being accepted into the high school of her dreams, I want to encourage you to rejoice the same way at being accepted in the beloved. I want to encourage you to take your focus off your marital status and place it in Christ. Nurture your relationship with Him because that relationship will last longer than any other. And you will need your relationship with Him even when you get married. Trust me!
God loves you just the way you are. He accepts you just the way you are. And He smiles upon you just the way you are. You are accepted in the beloved.
In His service,
~Aretha Grant
Hello! My name is Jereè and I began this BLOG to share my journey as a Woman unapologetically as I start the process of mending the pieces of my broken life with God’s help by sharing my life #UnMended while Baring the deepest parts of myself has been very hard, but is so worth it in the end to see the woman I’ll become. So Cheers to healing, and to celebrating my freedon as a woman, in love, in life, and in faith. May you also grow from what I’ve grown from. Xo Jereè
