Self-Acceptance Leads to Acceptance of Others

When I read the following words in a book the other day, I realized the authors have aptly described the "broad place" that God is bringing me to (Psalm 18:19); a place arrived at through His consistent rescuing of me from the plentiful and specific dysfunctions of self to one of increasing maturity, ease and contentment in self that organically then breeds an increasing acceptance and sincere enjoyment of others.

I was telling my family the other day that I actually like people now! I have only just come to realize that it's not so much that I did not like people before; it's that I did not like myself when I was with people before. 

So the following words are very true in my life, and I thank God for His miraculous transformation of my inner person that is subsequently leading to His miraculous transformation of my wider world, even though bad things still transpire and rejection is always just around the corner. My self-acceptance is no longer situational because God is not situational.  

That is why I believe that, short of an inner peace within each individual that has been worked into place by God over months and years--I don't think we'll ever come close to an outer peace that transforms the wider world. 

Here's the quote:

"Acceptance is needed following self-disclosure. It needs to be applied to oneself as well as to the other. As individuals gain new self-awareness as a result of self-disclosure, they can react to this new self-knowledge with either self-acceptance or self-rejection. Often the easier path is self-rejection. Rejection, or self-denial, of what I am presently and potentially is a way of absolving the self of responsibility. However, since Jesus has accepted us just as we are, the only valid response is self-acceptance. Jesus did not say, 'Love your neighbor and hate yourself.' He said, 'Love your neighbor as yourself' (Matt. 19:19).

Self-accepting people generally find it easier to accept others. Individuals who are more self-rejecting also find it more difficult to accept others. Self-acceptance is a key to accepting others. Self-acceptance makes it easier for us to practice self-disclosure and respond positively to the self-disclosure of others.
Healthy self-acceptance also opens an individual to personal change. Change growing out of Jesus-like acceptance tends to be in keeping with both one's unique self and in becoming all that God created one to be." 
Stephen A. Grunlan and Marvin K. Mayers, writing in Cultural Anthropology: A Christian Perspective