It shouldn’t be overly surprising that God planted within my DNA the desire to belong.

To belong is a basic component of nations and military organizations. The belonging gene is fundamental to clubs, athletics, families, companies, schools, sororities, fraternities, workgroups, and churches.

To belong is a grace I give to others and a privilege others extend to me. It operates like an agreement or a contract. To belong is only a reality as long as I and other parties agree we belong to each other.

To belong is a need filled within my soul on many different levels. Each time someone extends that grace to me my soul is a tad more complete.

My parents—the basic level of family—let me know I belonged. The belonging ripple extended outward through siblings, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins.

Through the first generation marriage of uncles, aunts, and cousins, the clan grew and belonging grew exponentially.

Life extends many opportunities to belong to countless groups. Each add to, or question my sense of belonging.

With all of the wonderful opportunities to belong in God’s world, I am wired in such a way as to never receive a complete sense of belonging until I belong to Jesus and His church.

By belonging to Jesus and His church, all belonging relationships grow deeper, because I now plug into the power that projects sufficient voltage to increase the glow at every belonging point.

In his letter to Roman Christians, Paul speaks of the need for followers of Jesus to be tolerant with one another. He is speaking in the light of the reality that Roman Christians belonged—and in fact, they belonged to Jesus.

By belonging to Jesus, we now have the power to increase our “getting along efficiency” in belonging to each other.

The great apostle was seeing the end of his life and his earthly assignment. He reminds the believers, “If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”

I belong to many circles where members graciously accept me as one who belongs. However, it is in belonging to Jesus and His church that makes the rest of life work. His gift of belonging is a gift of grace.

Let me take a detour for a moment. Here is a truth I believe I discovered about heavenly gifts. Godhead gifts are rich and to be mined. Thus, it’s good to know I belong, yet if I mine what it is to belong to Jesus and His church, belongingness takes on greater depth.

So here I am, wanting to belong fully to Jesus and His body. How can I do that?

• Key to all is to begin each day with the daily animal sacrifice by tying me—the animal— once again to God’s Altar.
• The more of me I can leave at God’s Altar, the more space I make available for Jesus to inhabit.
• The more I belong to Jesus and the more He belongs to me, the more likely I am to feel at ease as a part of His body, and the more likely I am to accept and to be accepted by others who belong.

When I placed my faith in Jesus and passed through the death, burial, and resurrection of baptismal waters, I joined with Jesus as one who belongs to Him and His church.

My state of belonging to Jesus and His church will become richer and more fulfilling as I let myself belong more to Jesus.

Stay tuned.

Gary J. Sorrells on Cross Church.