Define Belonging

We concluded our last blog with this thought:

I have come to believe that you and I should focus our efforts on developing a deeper understanding of our relationship with Him. By understanding, I mean something like Paul wrote in Ephesians 3, that you would become rooted and established in love. It won’t be enough to learn what can be known of your relationship with Him with your mind alone.

Nevertheless, to continue the conversation, I think we should add a solid intellectual understanding as a foundation for moving forward.   

I asked one of my smart friends about his thoughts on belonging and what it means to belong. I have edited what he shared a little bit, but the substance of what is contained here is from him.    I think you’ll see as we make our way through this definition that it alludes to something more than having an ability to sufficiently grasp this “sense of belonging” intellectually:  

When you consider what it means to belong to a club, a church, a workplace, etc., you can understand that your belonging is conditional. You pay a due to a club, you teach Sunday School, give a tithe, etc., at your church. At work you contribute your blood, sweat and tears. You belong, for the most part, because of how you perform. Your status in the group is measured by your contribution. Most of the time, you gain a sense of satisfaccton belonging to the group because you are happy with your contribution. All of this can be understood to be performance based. How the group feels about you, how you feel about the group is based on how you judge your performance and how you judge the performance of others in the group.   

These kinds of groups then, have limits on the sense of belonging that can be gained from being part of them. Please don’t take this the wrong way! It’s not my intent to say that you shouldn’t be a part of these groups. Especially if you feel good about being part of them, by all means, continue to do so!

We have works to do and we’re going to need faith to do them!

**(See earlier blogs for more on God’s plan for you or buy the book “From Here …By Faith”)