The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10 (KJV) emphasis mine

I once heard Charles Neiman say “accept life.” In other words, don’t run from life, but embrace it. When he said it, I really saw how I had been livng. I had always wanted to exit life, like “Jesus, rapture me now.” I was just surviving until I could go to heaven, but I wasn’t thriving. God doesn’t want us to live like that. He wants us to accept and embrace life. If life gets bad, we are to expect things to change. If we don’t embrace our lives, we won’t live with passion. Instead, we will dread, despise, and even reject the life we’ve been given.

Now, let me be clear, we are to accept life, but not defeat. When we embrace our lives, we will not give up, but we will grow up and try again. We do accept the things we cannot change, like the past, people, and even some life events. We don’t accept pain, rejection, betrayal, or mistreatment. We give those things to God, and believe for Him to change them. The things we go through should not define us or the life we have- instead they should be blocks that we can use to build on for the future.

We accept who we are and where we are. We embrace who we are; strengths, weaknesses, abilities, and inabilities. As we accept life and accept ourselves, we will live life to the fullest, instead of hiding from it. Make the most of what you’ve been given. Accept who you are as well as who you will never be. Accept that God made you for a specific purpose. As we embrace life, we will live as God intended.