Being unconditionally loved and accepted is one of the conditions for humans to reach their full potential in life, and to bloom to what they were created to be. Yet, true acceptance comes when we realize who we are in God's plan, who God says we are.
We all crave for acceptance. And each one of us certainly knows very few people who can unconditionally accept us. Most of us have great problems for accepting our own selves.
According to the so-called school of "Human Scale Development", which is represented by Manfred Max Neef, Antonio Elizalde, and Martin Hopenhayn, the basic human needs are same in every culture and through all time-periods.
The differences between these cultures occur when it comes to applying certain strategies to satisfy these needs. First of all, human needs should be regarded as a system, as they are interactive and interconnected. There is no hierarchy of needs in this system, like in the case of Maslow's famous pyramid.
Max-Neef states the basic human needs as: subsistence, protection, affection, understanding, participation, creation, identity, freedom, and recreation (meaning finding time to relax and enjoy life, meditate, or simply pause from any activity).
Acceptance has a lot to do with self-discipline. Any aspect that we don't like of ourselves can be changed, if we take the effort and turn things around. When denying your state of discipline, you may have a totally wrong perspective on reality. This can be either due to overly pessimism, or due to overly optimism, regarding one's true capacities.
One may struggle all his life to achieve acceptance from other people, without very good results. This is the unconditional kind of acceptance, which gives us the feeling of freedom, and the sensation that life is worth living everyday. But in order to get there, perhaps it takes a supernatural power to fully accept us, which can be found in Christ.
How exactly is one fully accepted in Christ? First of all, he/she is a child of God: "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, he gave the right to become children of God." ― John 1:12
Then, he is Jesus' friend: "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." ― John 15:15
He is acceptable to God: "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." ― Romans 5:1
He is united to the Lord and one spirit with Him: "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?" ― 1 Corinthians 3:16
He has been bought with a price. He belongs to God: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body." ― 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20
He is part of Christ's Body, part of His family: "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." ― 1 Corinthians 12:27
He is a saint, a holy one: "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus" ― Ephesians 1:1
He has been adopted as Christ's child: "In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will." ― Ephesians 1:5
He has been bought back (redeemed) and forgiven of all his/her sins: "in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." ― Colossians 1:14
He is complete in Christ: "and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority." ― Colossians 2:10
He is seated with Christ in heaven: "And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus," ― Ephesians 2:6
He is God's building project, His handiwork, created to do His work: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." ― Ephesians 2:10
He is able to do all things through Christ who gives him strength: "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." ― Philippians 4:13
You have everything you need when you realize God's love for you, and the resources you have at hand in HIM. Make sure you know what your heavenly accounts are filled with, because you are so rich, and yet, the lack of knowledge might hinder you from using your richness in Christ.