Created to Belong - Guest Post by Carla Maclachlan!

Hi friends! Today, it's not me who will be posting. Nope! It is Carla Maclachlan! I'm so glad she volunteered to be the first guest poster her with this beautiful post. Enjoy! {Let us know what you think!}

Created to Belong

No matter what our age, we each have an innate desire to belong. We love the sense of security belonging brings. But, finding a place to belong does not always result in long lasting security.

For example, people who strive to belong amid the popular crowd often feel insecure about the compromises that must be made to continually please others. Those who gain a sense of belonging through avenues of achievement sometimes doubt their worth when they are no longer able to compete. Others find places to fit in through employment. But, what happens when their position is eliminated or outsourced? When a person is elected to office, they certainly belong there and should feel secure in their position—until the next election. When a mother has children, there is often a bond that forms, creating a sense of belonging to one another. However, this secure sense of belonging is often lost when her children leave home.

Where do you experience a sense of belonging?

The Bible teaches that Christ followers will live by faith rather than by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). This means that believers should choose a lifestyle based on God’s eternal perspective rather than on a temporal, earthly view. This is particularly significant when it comes to our desire to belong. If we strive to find a place to belong in the midst of the things of this world, there are no guarantees of security. In doing so, we will be setting ourselves up for eventual disappointment. On the other hand, the things of God are steadfast, trustworthy, and eternal, resulting in genuine, long-lasting security for those who trust in Him.

A world view bases its perspective on incomplete or flawed understanding. As a result, a person may have a sense of belonging after reaching a specific level of acceptance by family members or friends. Sadly, a worldly perspective also uses labels to denote those who belong (elected, member, appointed, first-class) and labels to denote those who do not “fully” belong (divorced, unemployed, unpopular, step-mother, half-sister, etc.)

Because God created each of us with the desire to belong, He alone can fulfill that need. Ephesians 1:4-6 tells us that God loved us so very much that it was His desire and design for us to be adopted, through Jesus Christ, as His sons and daughters. The definition of adoption is: the act of accepting someone with approval. Each time a person enters the family of God it is based on His unconditional, eternal acceptance and approval. As a result of faith and belief in Jesus Christ, a child of God experiences a deep sense of security because he has confidence that his acceptance in Christ is everlasting.

The Bible shows us a picture of God’s acceptance through His enormous love for us in 1 John 3:1a: How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

Have you fully accepted, through adoption, the unconditional love of your heavenly Father? Do you daily experience the deep sense of belonging and security found only in Christ? Are you choosing to fully trust in God and the power of His Spirit instead of in people or things that could be gone tomorrow?