Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely

by Lysa TerKeurst

When we have Christ, we are full—fully loved and accepted and empowered to say no.

His love holds us. His love grounds us.

I am fully loved, fully accepted, and fully empowered to say no to my flesh.

Believe that truth in the power He’s given you. Live that truth in the power He’s given you.

Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.

The more fully we invite God in, the less we will feel uninvited by others.

Girls who have the lingering whispers of rejection still echoing in the hollows of their soul rarely feel completely held safe.

So they look at gaps of the unknown and hesitate at best. Run away at worst. They crave for life to make sense. They cringe when it doesn’t. It’s unfathomable to take a leap into something as uncertain as air and expect to stay intact.

So I fight for her. Not because we will reconnect. We haven’t. And we might not. Not because she’s right. Not because I’m right.

I fight for her simply because I want to stay right in step with honoring God.

Humility gave Abigail the greatest advantage in this life-and-death conversation with David. Humility opens the ears of opportunity.

Relationships don’t come in packages of perfection; relationships come in packages of potential.

They have the potential to be great. But they also have the potential to be hard at times.

No matter what, it takes work to ...

Acceptance is like an antibiotic that prevents past rejections from turning into present-day infections. The need for belonging runs deep.

A sense of belongingness is crucial to our well-being … The lack of belongingness causes various undesirable effects, including a decrease in the levels of health, happiness, and adjustment.1

She spoke her words of truth in the tone of grace.

Let your past rejection experiences work for you instead of against you by allowing them to help you sense the possible pain behind other people’s reactions.

Try to see things from their vantage points and think of how they might be hurting in this situation.

Rejection is so incredibly painful.

In fact our brains respond so similarly to rejection and physical pain that Tylenol reduces the emotional pain rejection elicits.

Rejection isn’t just an emotional feeling. It’s a message that alters what you believe about yourself.

And the minute you sense that happening is the minute you must stop the runaway thinking with truth.

I needed to shift my thinking, not only in order to process thigh-gap girl’s success well, but also to make sure I didn’t internalize a lie about my identity and then miss what...

You aren’t set aside, Lysa. You are set apart.

To be set aside is to be rejected. That’s exactly what the enemy would have wanted me to feel.

If he could get me to feel this, then I’d become completely self-absorbed in my own insecurity and miss whatever the reason God had for me to be at this event.

To be set apart is to be given an assignment that req...

Anything that infuses us with humility is good. Even if it feels a bit like humiliation in the moment, the workings of humility within are a gift.

The tweaking of us by God in the quiet is the saving of us in public.

Yes, rejection is humbling to the point of humiliation. But sweet friend, don’t let rejection steal one more thing from you.

God made us For Giving. God made you For Giving. God made me For Giving.