Rejection is such a difficult topic to talk about, but it is something that we all can say we have experienced in some form in our lives. Instead of sharing one of my numerous rejection stories, I thought I would share with you one of my wife’s rejection experiences from when she was a little girl. (Do not worry, I asked her permission first. I am not a complete dummy!).

When she was five years old, her mom enrolled her into dance class. She was thrilled for her first day with her cute little dancer outfit and her new shoes, and was excited to make new friends. She was like most kids that age, super loving, friendly and affectionate. So, when she got to her dance class, she wanted to hug all the little girls in her class and be their friend (queue the “awaww’s” and the “that’s so sweet” comments).

Little did she know, none of the other little girls were as friendly as she was and they did not even want to talk to the new girl in class, much less give her a hug. Her little five-year-old heart was broken over this experience and to this very day, she still shies away from offering physical affection.

Now, what was your reaction to my wife’s story? Or better yet, how do you think I should have reacted to her story? The fact is, the way I reacted was not in the way she was expecting me to. I just said, “Cool story! Can you share it with us at Sunday School tomorrow for my lesson?” (NOW you can insert “dummy” as one of my pronouns). I completely ignored her story and just tried to use it for my lesson! Rejection was hers yet again, written all over her face, and I felt awful for not listening to her fully. My response should have been something like, “Oh honey, I am so sorry! Here is a big bear hug to help make up for those lost hugs.” But admittedly this was not my first response.

I am telling this story to show you that we will face rejection at any age and at any level. We will face rejection even when we open up to our spouses, our friends, and our most beloved and trusted people who are in our lives. Even as Christians we will miss the mark in showing love and compassion. Jesus tells us in yesterday and today’s verses to expect it.

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.”

If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

However, the word that is written in their law must be fulfilled: “They hated me without a cause.”

When God created Adam and Eve, He was expecting to have a relationship with them and all their offspring. None of us were ever to be born of the world. We were all meant to be in a relationship with God and with one another. That is what He intended.

But when Adam and Eve rejected God’s command to not eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, they then fractured our perfect world and planted a seed of sin and rejection that has been growing ever since.

The world has hated God since the moment that seed of sin and rejection was planted. They constantly reject and will always reject Him and His Son. It will also reject you, me and every other Jesus follower because we are not of the world. Even the people of the world will be rejected by their own because the world is not functioning within its original design.

What is even crazier is God sent Jesus to repair broken relationships, and to get us back to His original design. This was done to make us reborn in His image and to take away the curse of rejection and sin. But even we hated Him for fixing us. It is like murdering the mechanic who is fixing our flat tire. Or murdering the doctor performing my heart surgery. We put Him on a cross because we did not want to be redeemed. Nor did we know we needed to be redeemed. That is how far away from God we humans fell. We no longer remembered who we truly were and who we were created to be.

The only way we can overcome rejection is being tied to the true vine — by letting God’s love, work its way through us. Through His Son Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit we can in turn show someone else Jesus’s compassion and love. There will always be rejection in this world, but the true vine will always produce love, forgiveness and life.

Do not let the rejection you have experienced and the unforgiveness you have, choke off the power of God to operate through you. You were designed to bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. You were meant for something greater than this world. Something greater than the harvest of rejection. You were meant for an eternal and glorious relationship with Him.