You Can Be Loved But Not Yet Accepted
God loves the lost and seeks to save them. They are not saved and accepted just because God loves them. Love longs for reconciliation, but just because God loves us it does not mean we are reconciled to God. God demonstrated His love by giving His only Son for us (John 3:16; Romans 5:8). But reconciliation takes two people wanting the points of difference removed and resolved so that both are acceptable to the other. We are urged to "be reconciled to God." Thus, there is something we must do to let it take place. The father of the prodigal son loved his son, even when his son was miles away in heart and distance, but the father and son could not be reconciled until the son had a change of heart and made the move to go home to his father (Luke 15). Likewise, God wants us to wake up, come to realize what we did to break up a good relationship and come home to Him. Being accepted and reconciled comes after repentance and baptism (Acts 2:38; 22:16) in the name of Jesus. Love longs for us and desires our reconciliation. Whether it happens is up to us!
