God sent His Son…that we might be adopted… – Galatians 4:4-5, AMP

I have several family members and friends who were either adopted as children or have adopted children. Through conversations with some of these, I’ve come to understand that many children who have been adopted struggle with feelings of rejection and abandonment by the birth parents at some point in their lives. Research backs this notion up. As reported by www.childwelfare.gov:

Loss, as well as feelings of rejection and abandonment by the birth parents, are frequent themes throughout the books and articles written by adopted persons about their experiences. Adopted persons, as children and as adults, may wonder why they were placed for adoption or what was “wrong” with them that caused their birth parents to give them up. Grief is a common reaction to the loss of the birth parents, and grieving may begin when the child is old enough to understand what being adopted means.

Often, adopted children can come to a point of feeling unworthy because they were given away, and even if their parents gave them up because they wanted their children to have a better life than they themselves could provide, the feeling of unworthiness persists.

One of the cures – perhaps the best cure – for such feelings of grief and abandonment is for adopted children and adults to grasp, both in their minds and in their hearts, that the love of their adoptive parents is GREATER than the love of their birth parents. People who adopt choose to sacrifice time, money, and energy to pursue the children they adopt, and they do so not because they have to, but because they WANT to. Adoptive parents could have chosen not to take on the responsibilities of rearing another human being, but they preferred investing in the lives of their children over everything else, and they pursued their children vigorously so that they could call them “son” or “daughter.” Adopted children, therefore, are chosen ones, are held in high esteem by their parents, and are the recipients of a deep love that is just as strong, if not stronger, than the love any birth parents can offer.

Sometimes Christians suffer from feelings of spiritual emptiness, abandonment, and grief. The causes of these feelings are many, but the cure for the feelings is the same as that for the adoptive child struggling with self-esteem. When we feel abandoned or unworthy, we need to remember that the God of all Creation chose to set aside His comfortable life in Heaven, to live a difficult life on this earth, and to pay a tremendous price of pain and suffering for one reason and for one reason only – so that He could call us “son” or “daughter.” We have been pursued, we have been sacrificed for, and we have been loved with a love stronger and deeper than any love anyone else could ever express for us. We are special and we are worthy because we have been loved and adopted by God Himself. If God holds us in such high esteem, then we should never dishonor Him by feeling as if we are worthless. God’s love gives us our worth, and there is no other source of “self-esteem” that can compete with God’s esteem for us.

Shop hundreds of Christian-themed products at our new store! A portion of each purchase goes to support the work of Today’s Quote From God. To visit the Today’s Quote From God Store, please click here.