"See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are." 1 John 3:1a
We as human beings have an innate desire to belong. It is a built in instinct for men to seek women and women to seek men and together build a family. We also desire friends with whom we can share and interact. At work, we build relationships with co-workers with whom we accomplish goals and develop social networks. Even in our leisure activities, we wear the colors of the local or favorite team, join fraternities and sororities and various other clubs and organizations. Our identity is inextricably intertwined with those with whom we have relationships and the things for which we stand.
For the Christian beloved, our identity is given to us by the love of God. He answers every single need we have to belong. It is He that made man and woman to belong to each other while belonging to Him. It is He that created the partnership of work as seen in giving Adam responsibilities and Eve a role in helping. It is at God's direction that we are fruitful and multiply. And it is He who told us to love others as we love ourselves. Even our "organizational" need to belong is fulfilled in the Lord in that "God added to the church daily such as should be saved" Acts 2:47 (KJV).
At the root of all of this is the individual relationship we have with our Creator, our Father, our Abba (Dad). He loved us before we knew to love Him. And He did something that we could not do ourselves; He made us His own and He made us a family. There is no greater belonging than belonging to God.
Rejoicing in the Lord,
Lee
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