I love pizza, chocolate, anything made with oats, all varieties of bread, and Dr. Pepper. I adore Dr. Pepper.

I love puppies! (For the record I do NOT like cats, never have, never will, but this post cannot be about my dislikes…and I don’t want to make enemies with my cat-loving friends! But…if I see a picture of you kissing your cat on social media…my scrolling fingers go into overtime!)

I love springtime, summertime, fall and even winter.

Yes, I love snow!

I love the drama of it all and the hype, but mostly I just love those unique, no-two-are-ever-the-same white, fluffy flakes that continually pile upon one another to create a blanket of beauty. It covers up the ugly in winter and, even if only for a little while, everything is beautiful and post-card perfect.

I love people. I try to LOVE everybody. (But, admittedly, some people are difficult to LIKE.) Everybody wants to be loved and accepted for who they are. But most of us have struggled at some point in our lives to believe that we can be loved by anyone unconditionally.

Our parents love us, that’s a given thankfully, in most cases. Our spouses are supposed to love us and we give that love back in return.

We love our children! We show them our love in many ways, hugs, kisses, encouraging remarks, even gifts.

We seek out love; we search for it if we are not blessed to have it handed to us. Everyone wants to be loved.

Every day, in a myriad of ways, we long for approval from those in our circle of life. We get on social media and see if how many “likes” we received today.

If we blog, or have a website, we check those stats as if it were the Dow Jones ticker. Are we up today? How many comments did we receive? Is this going to be the post that goes VIRAL?

Sally Field was actually quoting a line from her movie, “Norma Rae” when she said, “You like me, right now, you like me!” It is forever misquoted as, “You like me, you really like me!” She was ecstatic with her new Oscar and her words resonated with millions.

If we are honest with ourselves, we all want to be approved. It starts very early in our childhood. Our teachers hand out stickers, and give check-marks and plus signs on our report card. An accolade from Mrs. Jones in the fourth grade goes a long way in building the self-esteem of a child.

We rush home to Mom and Dad to show off our A+’s and high marks, knowing this will make them happy and proud of us.

It is almost impossible to get away from the need for acceptance. Even as adults we worry about what everyone will think of us: What we look like, what we wear, how we talk, how much money we make…and the list goes on and on.

I have always struggled with a lack of self-confidence. Even when I received the gift of the Holy Spirit, and knew then that I was accepted, saved and on my way to Heaven, I still doubted at times that God would love ME, that He would pardon ME, save ME, answer MY prayers. That ugly need for approval, constantly trying to do what I thought would make my God happy, kept creeping back into my conscience.

But God doesn’t look at us that same way! When He said, “It is finished”, He meant everything! He was telling us then that we no longer have to search for approval, no longer have to worry about being loved, liked, and accepted. He, as the Potter, takes us and molds us, fashions us into perfection in His sight.

Go back a few years to when you were on the school playground and they are getting a game of basketball, baseball, or maybe the dreaded DODGE-ball…whoever invented that game was evil. Period. But I digress. You choose two captains and they start picking their team.

Who do they pick first? Hopefully the best player, sometimes just the most popular, but down the line they go until there are just one or two people left. Have you ever “been there”? Have you been picked last? There is no more horrible feeling in the world than to be the “One-that-nobody-else-wanted”.

You might as well go sit in the bleachers or go find a good game of hopscotch. You weren’t “good enough” to be chosen with the talented, the popular, the good looking.

You were last.

It doesn’t end in grade school. The need for approval continues long into adulthood, it never ends.

But with my God, there are no rejects! There is no preferential treatment! He loves us all the same and He invited us, every single one, to just “Come”.

“I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10.

You can lay down that need for approval because you have been Pre-Approved by Jesus Christ! He loves, He gives, and He takes away that constant search for acceptance. Then we are FREE to love Him! FREE to have our HOPE in Him!

We can be thankful today for a God that loves us unconditionally and completely.