Scriptures About Rejection: 3 Stories You Need To Know

“What‘s wrong with you? No other woman I know would ever do that.”

“All you’ve done is taught you patience. Otherwise, I couldn’t have dealt with you all this time.”

“I don’t even know why I love you anymore.”

The one I loved most in the world said these words to me repeatedly during the 10 years that we were together. Is it any wonder that by the time the relationship chewed me up and spat me out, my self-worth was a tattered mess?

You see, for most of that time in my life, I felt inadequate, because I couldn’t change enough to be worthy of his love. And since I didn’t feel loved for who I was, rejection was my constant companion.

On top of that, I spent a lot of time during the last years of that relationship crying out to God for help. But He seemed silent, and I took that to mean that maybe I wasn’t special to Him after all. So I ended up feeling like God had rejected me, too.

Worse still, while I was hurting, I was also hiding my feelings of rejection. So I didn’t give those who truly loved me the opportunity to speak scriptures for rejection over me when I needed it most.

Scriptures About Rejection in The Bible For When You Feel Rejected

Maybe your feelings of rejection don’t come from your mate. Maybe it’s from a parent, sibling, or even your colleagues at work.

Or maybe, like I did, you’re struggling with feeling unheard and rejected by God.

Let’s start there. Because through my mess, I learned firsthand that God hears every prayer of your heart. And He always responds, even when it seems like He doesn’t.

Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me! Psalm 66:20 (CSB)

Don’t believe me? Then maybe you’ll identify with one of these 3 people from Scripture who others rejected. And see how God delivered them when they could have succumbed to feeling rejected by Him, too.

Looking to get “anchored” in prayer? Try this resource here!

Rejection in the Bible: 3 People Who Were Rejected

If you feel rejected, you’re in good company. Many people in the Bible felt the same way at some point. So let’s see what helpful lessons we can learn about rejection from 3 of them.

1. Jesus Was Rejected

When those you care about you reject you, and you’re in pain over it, it’s easy to dismiss the fact that Jesus’s people rejected him, too.

He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. John 1:11 (NLT)

You can easily make the mistake of diminishing what Jesus went through. Because, you know, it’s Jesus. But the fact that He was rejected means He knows exactly how you feel.

“If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you.” John 15:18 (CSB)

In fact, Jesus even had to deal with this from His own family, who thought He was crazy when He just started His ministry.

When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away. “He’s out of his mind,” they said. Mark 3:21 (NLT)

Talk about feeling misunderstood and rejected. So what did Jesus do?

Then he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke openly about this. Mark 8:31-32a (CSB)

Jesus recognized and acknowledged that He would be rejected. Then He wholeheartedly and relentlessly pursued and fulfilled God’s purpose for Him anyway.

Takeaway: Know ahead of time that everyone won’t love and accept you. And that’s OK because Jesus loves and accepts you. Then keep doing what God called you to do, anyway.

2. Joseph Was Rejected

And speaking of family rejection, is there a better example in Scripture than Joseph’s story? It starts in Genesis 37 with jealousy and a dream.

In fact, Joseph’s brothers hated him so much that they plotted to kill him. Talk about family rejection.

Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams. Genesis 37:20 (ESV)

Thankfully, relatively better sense prevailed and they ended up selling him into slavery in Egypt instead.

Unfortunately, Joseph spent the next several years as a slave, then in prison after he was falsely accused of a crime. He was rejected again, this time by the master who he had served faithfully.

And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. Genesis 39:20 (ESV)

But do you know who didn’t reject or abandon Joseph?

But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. Genesis 39:21 (NLT)

Takeaway: Your circumstances don’t have to dictate your feelings or your actions. You can choose to be faithful and do your best, despite rejection.

The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed. Genesis 39:23 (NLT)

3. Hagar Was Rejected

Not to kick you when you’re down. But sometimes, people may reject you because of your own behavior. Please don’t feel condemned, because we’ve all been there.

Hagar was there, too. Her story starts in Genesis 16 when her mistress, Sarai, got the brilliant idea of forcing God’s plan for a late-in-life-heir for her husband, Abram. You can see the train wreck coming from a mile away.

And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. Genesis 16:4 (ESV)

Hagar’s new position as baby momma went to her head, so she started overstepping her boundaries. And Sarai wasn’t having it, so she mistreated Hagar.

Apparently it got so bad — or Hagar had a tantrum, we don’t know for sure — that pregnant Hagar ran off into the wilderness. Which is where God came to her, when she was feeling rejected, and alone.

The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. Genesis 16:7 (NLT)

Now, if you were Hagar, wouldn’t you be ready to hear how your nemesis is an idiot for not seeing how amazing you are? But that’s not at all what the angel said. Not even close.

The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” Genesis 16:9 (NLT)

Wait, what? No, “You go, girl, you’ve got this!”?

See, even in the middle of feeling rejected, that wasn’t what Hagar needed. She’d behaved badly, then compounded that by making a bad decision to run away. No, Hagar didn’t need a pep talk; she needed to hear the truth. Which was basically that she should do the right thing and behave herself. Despite her less than ideal circumstances.

Takeaway: Even when you’re feeling rejected, God will always tell you the truth in love. What you do with that truth is up to you.

As for Hagar, she came to her senses and returned to where she belonged. But she always remembered that God had her back her when she felt rejected.

Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” Genesis 16:13 (NLT)

The Scriptures Are Your Prescription For Rejection

As much as I was going to church during the time when I felt most rejected, I didn’t truly understand God’s word. Because I was so caught up in my circumstances and my feelings that I didn’t allow the Scriptures to heal my rejection.

You don’t have to make that mistake. You can decide right now to open your heart to the truth of God’s word. No matter who has rejected you and no matter how you want to feel about their actions.

Because in His word is where you’ll find unconditional love and acceptance. And you never have to feel rejected again.