According to Maslow, the first relational need we have is to be loved and to belong. When I asked each of my students to list five of the most pressing issues of teens these days, at least one of their answers dealt with this sense of belonging: fitting in, being cool, being popular, having friends. Many of them joined teams, clubs, sororities, and fraternities to further meet these needs. Even gangs, regardless of how distorted the view may be, satisfy this need to belong.
As adults it isn’t much different. Besides desiring close friendships, we look for organizations that have people who share a common view, goal, interest, or purpose––whether that is at our work place, in philanthropic or service organizations, or athletic or book clubs.
Though all of these places provide human companionship, we still have a need for more. Seventeenth century French mathematician Blaise Pascal is credited with describing each of us as having a God-shaped hole that only God, of course, can fill.
This is why the ultimate fulfillment of belonging comes from God alone.
In one sense, every one of us belongs to God.––Psalm 100:3: “Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his…”
But belonging to Him as His creation is nothing compared to belonging to Him as his children.
John 1:12: “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
1 John 3:1: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”
And being a child of God provides one additional blessing––belonging to the body of Christ: a family formed from people of all the nations of the world.
Ephesians 2:19: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household.”
Lest anyone tell you differently, what these people have in common are 1) they were broken but are now whole, 2) were sinners but are now redeemed and made righteous, 3) were weary but are now carried, 4) were blind but now see, and 5) were hopeless but now have hope.
Ephesians 4:4: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling.”
And best of all … anyone can join.
As adults it isn’t much different. Besides desiring close friendships, we look for organizations that have people who share a common view, goal, interest, or purpose––whether that is at our work place, in philanthropic or service organizations, or athletic or book clubs.
Though all of these places provide human companionship, we still have a need for more. Seventeenth century French mathematician Blaise Pascal is credited with describing each of us as having a God-shaped hole that only God, of course, can fill.
This is why the ultimate fulfillment of belonging comes from God alone.
In one sense, every one of us belongs to God.––Psalm 100:3: “Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his…”
But belonging to Him as His creation is nothing compared to belonging to Him as his children.
John 1:12: “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
1 John 3:1: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”
And being a child of God provides one additional blessing––belonging to the body of Christ: a family formed from people of all the nations of the world.
Ephesians 2:19: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household.”
Lest anyone tell you differently, what these people have in common are 1) they were broken but are now whole, 2) were sinners but are now redeemed and made righteous, 3) were weary but are now carried, 4) were blind but now see, and 5) were hopeless but now have hope.
Ephesians 4:4: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling.”
And best of all … anyone can join.
RSS Feed