Part Two: The Need to Belong
One of the deepest desires within every human being is the desire to belong.
From the moment we enter this world, we begin searching for an answer to a very simple but profound question: “Do I matter to anyone?”
A child looks into the face of a parent and searches for recognition. A young person longs for acceptance among friends. We form families, friendships, communities and churches because something within us tells us that life is not meant to be lived alone. We want to be known—and, even more importantly, we want to be known and loved.
Much of our search for significance is therefore connected with belonging.
Sometimes we try to establish our importance by what other people think of us. We seek approval, admiration or recognition. We may work hard to become successful because success seems to promise significance. We may accumulate possessions, positions or accomplishments in the hope that they will convince us—and others—that our lives count.
But there is a danger here.
If my significance depends upon the opinions of other people, then my sense of worth is always vulnerable. Someone can praise me today and criticise me tomorrow. I can occupy an important position for many years and then discover how quickly that position passes to somebody else.
The Christian faith offers something deeper.
Our ultimate significance does not begin with what we achieve or with what other people think of us. It begins with God’s love.
The Bible’s story is, in many ways, the story of God seeking people who have lost their sense of belonging. “I have called you by name; you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1). Those words reach into one of the deepest places in the human heart. Before we have achieved anything, before we have proved ourselves worthy, God says: You are mine. You belong.
And then comes the extraordinary message of the Gospel: in Christ, we are invited not merely to believe in God but to become part of God’s family.
This changes the question.
Instead of continually asking, “Am I important enough?”, we can begin asking, “To whom do I belong?”
And the answer is wonderfully clear: we belong to God.
That does not make us less significant in the eyes of the world. It gives our significance a foundation that the world cannot take away.
Perhaps the beginning of discovering our significance is therefore not discovering how important we are, but discovering whose we are.
We are God’s beloved children.
And that is a significance no achievement can give—and no failure can take away.
Questions or additional thoughts are welcome – send to “crockeym@gmail.com”