LOVING LIKE JESUS LOVES ME[1]

40 Days of Love - Part 2

16 August 2009

Readings: John 3:13021; 1 John 4:7-12 TNIV

 

When Peter, James and John were on the mountain where Jesus was transfigured, Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here."[2] That is my prayer for you as we consider Part two of 40 Days of Love, that as God speaks to you through the message you will sense that it is good that you are here this morning. If you missed either of the first two messages, the introductory message on 26^th July or part one last Sunday, you can go to the church website and read them as each week we are building on what has been shared already about how you build strong relationships. The whole purpose of 40 Days of Love is that you grow in loving God and other people.

 

The best way to learn anything is for someone to model it for you; for someone to take the time to show you how it's done. There is no greater model for love than Jesus Christ. Jesus was the only person who had a perfect understanding of how our relationship with God and other people is to be lived out in daily life, as he was the only person who loved perfectly.

 

In John 13 Jesus said, "I'm giving you a new commandment: love each other in the same way that I have loved you."[3] Note the underlined words. Jesus says the way that I have modeled love for you, is the way that I want you to love other people. He said, "I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you."[4]

 

You cannot fully understand how to love other people until first you understand how much God loves you. You cannot be gracious to others if you haven't felt God's grace. You can't be merciful to others if you haven't experienced God's mercy. When you understand the incredible and indescribable love that God has for you and you know its reality in your life, then it's going to be a whole lot easier for you to love other people.

 

Today we're going to do two things. First, we're going to look at how much God loves you. Then second, we're going to look at how God wants you to pass that love on to other people.

 

There are four ways Jesus loves you that God wants you to show to other people.

 

1. First, I must Accept others like Jesus accepts me.

 

Followers of Jesus are to be the most accepting people in the world. This does not come easily, for all of you have been hurt in some way or other by being rejected, or when somebody has put you down. Maybe you've been betrayed, or belittled. Maybe you've been told that you're never going to amount to anything. Such words spoken into your life hurt deeply. We've all experienced it; from parents, or from peers on the playground, from partners, and from professionals in your career. Everybody experiences rejection in some way or other, and we try our best to avoid it. Avoiding rejection affects the kind of clothes you wear, the way you style your hair. It affects the kind of car you drive, the career you choose, how you relate to other people - everything in your life is touched in some way by the fear of being rejected and the desire to be accepted.

In fact, people will do crazy things in order to be accepted. When you were young, were you ever dared to do something you really didn't want to do, but because you wanted to be part of the group and were afraid of being rejected, you did it anyway? There is this myth that if I could be perfect, or if I never did anything wrong even if I am imperfect, then everybody would love and accept me, and I wouldn't be rejected. Well, it's not true. Jesus was perfect, and they nailed him to a cross. The truth is, that no matter what you do, somebody's not going to like you. Somebody is going to reject you.

 

So to begin learning to love and accept people, you have first to realize how much God accepts you.

 

How does Jesus love you? In John 6 it says, "The Father gives me my people. Every one of them will come to me, and I will always accept them."[5] Jesus acceptance of you is unconditional. He says I will "always" accept you.

 

You may have been asked at some time, "Have you accepted Christ into your life?" If you have done that, you have become a follower of his. But I wonder if you have you ever realized that he's accepted you? You can be a Christian and never really feel accepted by God. You feel like God's always putting you down, always on your case; that no matter what you do it's not good enough.

 

That feeling does not come from God. It can come from parents whom you were never able to please, and whose love was conditional on you measuring up to their standards of acceptability. No matter how hard you tried you always felt like you were not measuring up to their expectations, that you were just a big disappointment, and they told you so. That kind of feeling can continue even after parents are dead, and in your mind you're still thinking, "I'm going to show them that I'm valuable, that I'm acceptable, that I'm worthwhile." The problem is that if you haven't got your parents' approval by now, you're never going to get it, and that it has nothing to do with you, it has everything to do with them. Hurt people hurt people.

 

God is not like that. He is not waiting until you measure up to his standards. God says, "No! I just love you, period! I don't love you because of who you are, but because of who I am; not because of what you do, but because of what I've done; not because of your conduct, but because of my character. I love you unconditionally. I will always accept you."

 

The Bible says this: "Even if my mother and father forsake me the Lord will receive me."[6] That's how much God loves you. He says I'm going to accept you no matter what. In fact, look at how he does it. Titus 3:7 "Jesus treated us much better than we deserve. He made us acceptable to God and he gave us the hope of eternal life."[7] How does he make us acceptable? - by his grace. It's not based on performance. It's not that you've changed, or that you've got better. It's not that you never sin. No, you're going to sin the rest of your life. Jesus just says I'm going to make you acceptable by my grace. The Bible says, "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it."[8]

 

 

God wants you to learn to love other people the way that he loves you. However, one of the problems is most people don't know the difference between acceptance and approval. Very, very different. Jesus Christ loves you and accepts completely. That doesn't mean he approves of everything you do. No, he doesn't do that. But he does accept you. You can accept someone without approving what they do, without approving their lifestyle.

 

A good example is when some religious leaders, who were out to trap Jesus, caught a woman in the act of adultery. Note that they didn't catch the man, because it usually takes two to commit adultery. Maybe they had put someone up to it so that they could say that they had caught this woman in the act. They bring her to Jesus and throw her down before him. "This woman was caught cheating on her husband. What are you going to do about it, Jesus?"

 

Jesus' response is well known. He looks at all the woman's accusers and says, "Ok, anyone who has never sinned, you get to throw the first stone." And they all start going away.

 

What is Jesus doing here? He's giving acceptance, not approval. He didn't approve of what she had done. The first thing that Jesus did was he defended her dignity. He said, I'm not going to let anybody treat a woman like that. I don't care what she's done.

 

Which, by the way, is how he responds to you when you mess up in your life. He's not going to go, "See? I told you so." He's going to defend your dignity. He accepts you.

 

Then in the private one on one moment after everybody's gone Jesus looks at this woman and says, "Where are your attackers?" And she says, "They're all gone, Lord." He says, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more."

 

We might well ask, "Is that it? Is that's all he's going to say?" He said, "I don't condemn you either. Just don't do it any more." What would you have done?

 

There is an important truth here. You don't have to make people feel guilty, because they already do. I don't measure up to my own standards, much less God's.

 

So when you come to Jesus with all your sins and your mistakes and your faults and your failures, he doesn't rub in the fact that you have done wrong. He rubs it out. Jesus didn't approve of what this woman had been doing, but he did accept her.

 

That's what you need to do with other people around you. You don't have to go around approving of everything everybody does, but you do have to accept them because that is the mark of love.

 

The Bible says that God chose to accept us. Being chosen is a great thrill. It really does a lot for your self-esteem. If you remember when you were young, the last thing you wanted was to be the last person chosen on a team. When they were picking up sides, you thought, please don't let me be the last person chosen! If you were one of the few fortunate that got chosen first on a team it made you feel great.

 

Over the years I have come to appreciate how blessed I am because I was chosen by Grace! Out of all the men on the earth, she chose me, and is a real boost to my confidence.

 

 

When God chooses you it makes your confidence soar. You say, "Wait a minute! God chose me?" That's right. God says, "I accept you. I love you. I created you. I sent Jesus to die for you. I chose you. I put my Spirit in you. You matter to me." The right kind of confidence does not come from listening for approval from other people, but by listening to what God says about you.

 

The point is, that what God does for you, he expects you to do for other people. He says, "I don't approve of everything you do, but I accept you unconditionally and I love you. Now I want you to do that with everybody in your life." Romans 15:7 "Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you."[9] God says you are to do for other people what I have done for you.

 

How do you do that? You show you accept other people by listening to them, and by looking at them; giving them your focused attention. When I do that I'm saying, "You matter to me." It's like the little child that says, "Look me in the face, daddy!" Love looks and listens. When somebody comes in and drops something off at your desk and you don't say anything or you don't pay any attention to it, or when somebody serves you in a restaurant and you don't look at them and say, "Thank you." The message you are communicating is, "I don't value you. You're not important to me." When you look them in the eye and you listen, then you're paying attention. You are accepting them.

 

The Bible says in Romans 15:2 "We must bear the burden of being considerate of the doubts and the fears of others." I have doubts. You have doubts; doubts about God; doubts about Jesus; doubts about the Bible." That's OK, and we are to treat each other with respect and love because everybody has fears and doubts. Acceptance means being considerate of each other's fears and doubts.

 

Here's our homework in practicing love for week number two. On your outline it says, "This week I will show acceptance to..." Write in the name of somebody who really irritates you, who is hard to love. It you happen to be sitting beside them, don't elbow them. In fact, it is better not to write down the name of anybody on your row, just in case they happen to see it. It is not to be a family member, although you can work practicing love there too. Choose someone that you have a hard time accepting, the person who is like heavenly sandpaper. Nobody likes them. Everybody's irritated by them. People talk and make fun about them behind their back. They are what we call EGR people - "Extra Grace Required." Write that person's name down. The most unlovely people are unloved people. When you start thinking, "Lord, I don't want to love that person!" You start thinking about how much God loves you.

 

First then, loving like Jesus means I've got to accept other people the way Jesus accepts me.

 

2. Loving like Jesus means I must Value others like Jesus values me.

 

How valuable are you? I'm not talking about your net worth. I'm talking about your self worth. How much are you worth? Let me tell you that are infinitely valuable to God. First, God created you. Second, Jesus died for you. Third, he puts his Spirit within you. Fourth, he wants you to be with him forever in eternity. That's how valuable you are to God. You are of infinite worth to God.

 

Jesus said this in Luke 12 "Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? [In other words they're not very valuable.] Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. [That is, God notices the sparrows! He even notices cockroaches. He notices everything because everything he made he values. Then he says this: "Even the hairs on your head [including the ones that have disappeared] have all been counted! Do not be afraid. You are worth far more than many sparrows."[10] Jesus says, "If God thinks sparrows are valuable, how much more valuable are you because he sent me to die for you."

 

I love this verse in the message paraphrase. It says "God pays even greater attention to you down to the last detail. [He knows every single thing there is to know about you, down to the very last detail.] Even numbering the hairs on your head. So don't be intimidated by all this bully talk. You're worth more than a million canaries."

 

What makes something valuable? Two things: the first is who made it. Value depends on who made it. What is more valuable, a violin made by Antonio Stradivari, or one you can buy from the Warehouse? There's a world of difference between the two. The person who created the violin makes it valuable. A well known creator can increase the value of something a thousand-fold.

 

Who created you? God did. What does that mean?

 

"Everything God created is good and nothing is to be rejected if it's received with thanksgiving."[11] God doesn't create junk. This verse tells us that everything he made is "good."[12] That means you are of infinite worth.

 

"For we are God's workmanship [that word "workmanship" in Greek literally means "masterpiece." You are God's masterpiece. That's what the Bible says about you. I didn't say that, but God does.] We are God's masterpiece, God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do." In other words before you were born God planned out what he wanted you to do with your life. He said, "You're my masterpiece, and you're exactly what I want you to be."

 

So value depends on who made you. God made you.

 

Second, value depends on what someone will pay.

 

How much is your house worth? It's worth whatever anybody will pay for it, which in the current economic climate is probably not as much as you think it is. It's only worth what somebody's willing to pay for it.

 

I heard recently about an oil sheik in the Middle East whose daughter was kidnapped. The family put an ad in the paper that said, "We will pay any price. She's the king's daughter." You are a child of the king. You were created by God and Christ gave his life for you. 1 Peter says, "He [God] paid for you with the precious life blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God."[13] If you really want to know how much are you worth, look at the cross. Jesus said, "You are so important to me, I'll pay the ultimate price. I'm willing to give my life for you." That's how valuable you are.

Anyone who may have told you growing up that you didn't matter, that you were worthless, that you would never amount to anything, lied to you. They may have even been your parents, but they lied to you. They may have said it in anger, they may have said it to hurt, but the fact is it was a lie. You are valuable because God made you, and because Jesus paid for all your sins. And God says, "I'm willing to exchange my Son's life for yours."

 

Here's how much God loves you. "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion for the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you. See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands!"[14] Did you know that when you get to heaven the only scars that you're going to see will be the scars on Jesus where he was nailed to the cross. For all eternity those scars will carry the message: "This is how much I love you. See the scars where they nailed me to the cross? I don't want you ever to forget, this is how much I love you. I have engraved you, tattooed you on the palms of my hands. I can never forget you. A mother might forget her baby, but there's no way I'm ever going to forget you. Every time you look at my hands, think, that's how much I love you." You're not just worthy, you're not just acceptable, you are valuable. God says, that's how much I value you.

 

Now Jesus says, "I want you to show that kind of value to everybody else that I love too, because I don't just love you that way, I love everybody that way. Even the people you can't stand, I love them this much. So I expect you, if you're my child, to love these people the same way I love them because I died for them, not just you. Treat them the same way that I treat them. Value others the way I value you."

 

How do you do that? 1 Peter 2:17 "Treat most people you meet with dignity...." No, I misread that! "Treat everyone you meet with dignity."[15] I looked up that word "everyone" in the Greek and you know what it means? It means everyone! There are no exemptions. You must treat everyone you meet. Even the people you agree with and disagree with, the people you like and dislike. Treat everyone with dignity.

 

How do you do that? There's two ways.

 

One, as I've said, is by looking at them and listening to them. This is a way of treating people with dignity.

 

One of the special verses in the Bible is when Jesus was walking down the road and a young entrepreneur came up to him and asked, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" After he had said that he had kept all the commandments since he was a young boy, the Bible says, "Jesus looked at him and loved him."[16] He looked and he loved. You can't love without looking. That's why when people come and serve you - a waitress or anyone like that - and you don't pay any attention to them, you're not being very loving. When somebody serves you, you look and you listen. You show respect because this person is precious to God, and is to be to you, too. It is living out the value of showing excellence in your relationships.

 

 

So look at the second homework assignment. "This week I will affirm the value of ..." Write there somebody's name who has low self esteem. When everybody else treats them like they don't matter, you treat them like they do, because they do. They matter to God.

Write down a specific name, somebody outside your home, because you can always do that with your family. "This week I will affirm the value of...."

 

A third way to love...

 

3. I must Forgive others like Jesus forgives me.

 

This is a step up in genuine loving. Some people think that no matter what they do, whenever they have a problem, God's getting even with them, that he carries grudges, that he never forgets. Is that really the way God acts? No. God does not carry grudges. The payment for all the wrong you've done, Jesus Christ took when he died on the cross. Some people picture God up in heaven waiting to zap them whenever they do wrong. He isn't like that. Isaiah 43:25 says, "I am the God who forgives your sins [not the God who is waiting to get you] and I do this because of who I am. I will not hold your sins against you."[17] Or the last phrase can be translated, "I will remember your sins no more." That's who God is. God is a God who forgives.

 

The amazing thing about this is that he planned to do this for a long time. The Bible says in Ephesians: "Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes."[18] Even before you were born, even before the world was made, God was already planning in Christ to forgive your sins. When you think about it for a minute, it's amazing. All the guilt that's in your life, God made a plan for that guilt to be forgiven before you were born. He knows every wrong thing you've ever done, every wrong thing you're going to do. None of it comes as a surprise to him. None of it, and he's already planned to forgive us in Jesus Christ.

 

So that's why the Bible can say: "There is now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Circle the word "NO." Not 'some' or 'a little bit' of condemnation. There is absolutely no condemnation because of what Jesus Christ did for us. But it came at tremendous cost. Jesus said, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."[19] Because Jesus gave his life, all who are in Christ Jesus have been unconditionally and completely forgiven. The debt is paid, paid in full. Once I recognize that he's forgiven me, then I'm able to forgive other people who wrong me.

 

The next verses in your outline talks about how you and I can do that. In Colossians 3:13 the Bible says: "You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others."[20] "You must make allowance for each other's faults..." Do you find that easy? Sometimes you want other people to make allowance for your faults but find it tough when you have to make allowance for other people's faults. However, the Bible says we must do this.

 

In Luke 6 Jesus said: "Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn..." Let's pause there a moment. The Bible reading from John's Gospel said: "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."[21] God sends you and I into the world to do the very same thing. Jesus said, "Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven."[22]

 

At the end of the story Jesus told about forgiveness he said, "Shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I have had mercy on you."[23] Because God has been so kind to me, that enables me to be merciful to others.

 

Look at the action step. Who is there this week that you could offer forgiveness to? It might be somebody who has hurt you, and you have been avoiding them? Maybe it is time to put the hurt behind you and start talking again. Or it might be somebody that you know who is carrying a heavy burden of guilt in their lives, and they need to be assured that God has forgiven them, just like he's forgiven us all.

 

Write their name down, then make plans this week to let them know.

 

If you're going to love the way God wants you to love, you have to accept people the way God accepts you, you have to value people the way God values you, you have to forgive others the way God forgives you, and fourthly and this is important...

 

4. I must Believe in others like Jesus believes in me.

 

All around you are people with low self-esteem and who are insecure? Even successful people have insecurities. Studies have shown that the younger you were when you first experienced rejection the more serious its effects in your life. When people say, "You're not going to amount to anything. You don't matter." Those words can act like a curse. How do you reverse that? You start believing what Jesus says and not what other people say about you.

 

The chapter from the Bible we're studying in our small groups during 40 Days of Love is 1 Corinthians 13. If you're not in a group, it's not too late to join. The small groups are a vital part of 40 Days of Love as we seek to put into practice the relationship principles of Jesus.

 

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13 "If you love someone you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground defending him."[24] When everybody else believes the worst, love believes the best. This is that God wants you to do.

 

It's exactly what Jesus did. He affirmed people around him. Jesus looked at people and he didn't see what they were. He saw what they could become. He saw their potential. He saw what God intended for them to be. He brought out the best in people not by labeling them but saying, "I know you can do it." I believe in you. He said "As you, Heavenly Father, sent me into the world I have sent them into the world."[25]

 

Think about this. Jesus trusted the future of the world to twelve men, most of them fishermen. One of them opted out, so that left only eleven. They were just normal men. No special educational qualifications or giftings. He spent three years with them saying, "I believe in you. You can do this - take this good news to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and the whole world. I trust you." There is an imaginary conversation took place between Jesus and the angels when he went back to heaven. The angels said, "Jesus, you died for all humanity. How are you going to spread the good news?" He replied, "I entrusted that task to eleven men." And the angels say, "What if they fail? What's your plan B?" Jesus says, "There is no plan B. I believe in these men. I know they can do it. I'm going to trust them." And that is what God says about you.

 

Look at these verses. "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there and it will move.' Nothing will be impossible to you."[26] Jesus is saying, "With faith you can do it. I believe in you."

 

"Jesus said, 'Everything is possible for him who believes.'"[27] In other words, "With me in your heart and God's Spirit and power in you, you can do it."

 

"Then Jesus told them "I assure you, if you have faith and you don't doubt you can do things like this [he's talking about the miracles he had done.] and much more..."[28]

 

One of the most amazing statements of Jesus is this: "The truth is, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works because I'm going to be with my Father."[29] How is that possible? When Jesus Christ was here physically in a body he could only be in one place at one time. Now Jesus can put his Spirit in me and you and millions of other people and he can be doing miracles in many places all at the same time. He can answer prayer in many places all at once. He says you can do it.

 

Jesus wants you to believe in others too. He says, "I want us to help each other with the faith we have. Your faith will help me and my faith will help you."[30]

 

This is the blessing of being part of a small group. Sometimes you have a really tough week and your faith has been severely tested. You're doubting, depressed and discouraged, maybe in despair. Jesus says when you're down the other people in your group will have faith for you. Then later when they're going through a tough time you can have faith for them. We help each other out. If you're a follower of Jesus it means you believe not only in God and in Christ; it means you believe in each other. That's what the church is for. We believe in each other and we help each other through tough times because we are a family.

 

The Bible says we are to show love to each other. "Let us consider how we may spur one another on to love and to good deeds."[31] We do that in our small groups.

 

Let's look at this last action step. If I'm going to learn to love the way God wants me to love, this week I've got to show acceptance to - and I hope you've written a name in - affirm the value of, offer forgiveness to, and demonstrate trust in -. Write down a person, somebody specific, somebody you see who has the potential for growth that you can say, I believe in you. Maybe it's somebody who's been falsely accused of something and you need to go and say, I believe in you. Or maybe it's somebody whose motives you've questioned. You need to go and say, I believe in you.

 

Psychologists tell us that your self image, how you see yourself, is largely determined by what you think the most important person in your life thinks about you. As your minister I'm telling you, make Jesus Christ the most important person in your life. He says, "You are valuable. I accept you. I love you. I have forgiven you. You are a person with amazing potential." You need to stop listening to what everybody else is saying about you, even to what your conscience is saying to yourself. You need to make Jesus Christ the most important person in your life and listen to what he says about you. It really doesn't matter what other people say. What matters is what God says.

 

Fred Craddock is a pastor. He tells the story of the time he was vacationing in Gaitlenburg, Tennessee. Fred and his wife were seated at a table in a restaurant and an old man came up to them and asked, "Are you folks on vacation?" "Yes," said Fred, "and we're having a good time." The old man said, "So, what do you do for a living?" Fred said, "I'm a preacher." "Oh!" said the old man. "Let me tell you a preacher story."

 

He sat down by them. The old man said, "I was born an illegitimate child. I never knew who my father was. It was very, very hard on me growing up. The kids in school made fun of me. Growing up, I didn't have any friends at all. When I walked around our little town I always felt people were staring at me and looking at me and saying, 'I wonder who's the father of that boy.' I spent a lot of time by myself. I didn't have any friends. One day a pastor came to town. Everybody was talking about how good he was. I had never gone to church but I decided I'd go to church and hear this guy. So I went. And he was good. So I kept going back. But each time I went to church I'd come in late and I'd leave early so I wouldn't have to talk to anybody. Then one Sunday I got so caught up listening that I forgot to leave early and the service ended and the people stood up and I couldn't get out the door. Suddenly I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder. When I turned, that big tall pastor was standing there looking at me and he said, 'What's your name, son? Whose boy are you? Whose son are you?' I just shook when I heard that question. But before I could say anything that pastor said this, 'I know who you are. I know who your family is. You have a distinct family resemblance. You're a son of God!'" The man said, "You know, those words changed my life."

 

The old man got up and he left and a waitress came over a little bit later and said, "Do you know who you were talking to?" Fred said, "No." She said, "That's Ben Hooper. Two time governor of Tennessee." A man learned he was the child of God and it changed his life. He learned he was valued, and accepted and loved and forgiven and capable. All the opinions of other people didn't matter any more.

 

There have been times in your life when you've been hurt, rejected by peers and parents and other people. God cares. This church cares. I care. You need to make Jesus Christ the most important person in your life and start filling your mind with what he says. That is the starting point for love. You can't love others until you know how much God loves you. Ephesians 3:18 "May you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep God's love really is."[32]

Prayer:

 

Thank you Father, that you can heal broken hearts and bitter memories and damaged self-esteem. Thank you that we matter to you. Thank you that patterns can be erased and curses can be reversed. Thank you that you turn nobodies into somebody. Jesus, I ask that you help people today, to begin to see themselves through your eyes of love. Thank you that we can depend upon your love.

 

Now you pray. In your heart say this, "Dear Jesus Christ, help me to see myself the way you see me. Thank you for creating me. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for dying for me. I don't understand it all but thank you that you accept me, that you value me, that you forgive me and that you believe in me. I want to believe in you. I want to trust you. Help me to care more about what you think of me than what other people think. May the truth set me free."

 

With our heads still bowed I want you to repeat these truths aloud after me: "Because of Jesus I am acceptable. I am valuable. I'm lovable. I am forgivable. And I am capable. Jesus, help me to see myself through your eyes of love. And help me to see others the same way. Amen"