Accepted

Most animate beings thrive on acceptance. Animals seek others who will accept them and help protect them from predators. For animals, it is critical to be of a like kind leading to easily acceptance by other members of the group (some call this a herd mentality). While there are some examples of animals going beyond this general practice, opposing situations are quite rare. When we consider humans, there is also a sort of herd mentality; the need for companionship and acceptance is quite strong. This has been the case since Adam was created. God provided a companion, helper, a woman for him. Today, many humans engage in various actions suggested by others without sufficient thought about the ramifications for doing them. Humans place a high value on companionship and will do amazing things to achieve acceptance of others. Part of this is the desire by humans to avoid being different from others. There are also people who do not want to standout, but would rather disappear into the shadows of a crowd. These humans do not want to be independent. Since these possibilities are true of humans, those who look for companionship need to exercise great care when choosing those from whom they seek acceptance. Christians should remember we are called or invited to be different from the world that surrounds us; we are to follow or imitate the principles of Jesus as the Holy Spirit guides us to do so. We should also remember we have a great cloud of witnesses to encourage our reliance on the Holy Spirit to lead us along our unique individual spiritual journey, (Heb. 12:1-2). Christians need to trust these witnesses and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to accept those people who will provide the best examples for us to follow.