One of the most powerful causes of strong emotions is rejection. To be rejected is to be denied, refused or spurned. It is a very unpleasant experience to say the least. Our ideas can be rejected. Our love, our needs, our personalities, our appearance, our beliefs and even our work for God can be rejected.

“One man said that in thirty-five years of marriage, he and his wife had never spoken a cross word to each other. In his case I suspect that one of two things was true. Either he was not telling the truth or he had a bad memory. When two people marry, they become one flesh but not one mind. They will have their differences of opinion, but these are swallowed up in their love for each other and the God given order of the home.”

Isaiah 53 states that our Savior was “despised and rejected of men.” We see that even Perfection can be rejected! There was no room for Him in the Inn. No room for Him in the nation. No room for Him in the religious system. Isaiah continues He “was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”. See the emotion there? In Hebrews 4:15, speaking of Christ, “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Our Savior was rejected, but His emotional and physical response was without sin.

Rejection causes sorrow. Jesus was “rejected” and He was called “a man of sorrow”.

Matthew 23:37, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.” In another text describing the same event, Luke 19:41 states, “And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it.”

We know the emotions that affect us when dealing with rejection. The important thing is to deal with rejection Scripturally.

  • Your own rejection can cause you to reject others. To get even.
  • To test and try people to see if they also will reject you.
  • To push people to reject you. “See, I told you so!”
  • To go to the crowd that accepts you even if it is sinful.

“He has great tranquility of heart who cares neither for the praises nor the fault-finding of men. He will easily be content and pacified, whose conscience is pure. You are not holier if you are praised, nor the more worthless if you are found fault with. What you are, that you are; neither by word can you be made greater than what you are in the sight of God.” ― Thomas a Kempis

Ephesians 4:32, “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Ephesians 1:6, “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”