Linda, a single Mom, attends school events to watch her kids. She is surrounded by other parents who seem to have close friendships. She feels out of place and just can’t seem to connect with anyone.

Jessica, a 22-year-old, chats with dozens of people online every day but realizes she has no one to call when she’s feeling down or when she needs help moving apartments. Her online “friends” aren’t really friends at all.

Alan has worked in the same office for years, but just found out that everyone goes out to lunch together on Thursdays, except for him. He is always doing favors and taking the hard jobs at work in an effort to be accepted by his co-workers. He now realizes he doesn’t belong there.

Many people live their lives having lost, or worse yet, having never had a deep sense of belonging. How is it possible that, with the power to communicate instantly across the world, we’ve become the loneliest generation in history?

Today, we begin module 2 in our “30 Days to Radically Shift Your Identity in Christ “journey. This module explores
Connection and Belonging – 3 Videos
o Belonging (our identity, being part of something greater than yourself, being accepted for who you are)
o Love (to be chose, affection, friendship, heart connection)
o To Be Known (to be seen, to be heard, to be understood)

God created us with this all-consuming desire to belong. We want to find others with whom we can take off our masks and be ourselves, let our hair down, and just do life. People who see us (warts and all) and love us anyway. People who have our backs. People who will be there for us when life gets rough.

We long to be part of something greater than ourselves. A group, an organization, a movement. Not a spare part, but a critical part. We long to be engaged in something meaningful and full of purpose. We long to find a place where we don’t have to pretend to be like everyone else, where we don’t have to do the things they do just to fit in.

**You Belong to God. You Will Always Have a Place With Him
Isaiah 43:1
"I have called you by name; you are mine!"
You aren’t just one among many. You are personally known and valued by God. He knows your name. Imagine that.

Psalm 100:3
“Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”

**You Do Not Belong to the World
So don’t expect to find the belonging your heart desires there.

**We Belong to Each Other
God quickly saw that “it is not good for the man to be alone.” So God created Eve, marriage, and family. Family, with God in the middle, is a place where we find the belonging we need.

But your family may not have God in the middle of it. Your family may not provide the belonging you need.

Psalm 68:6
“God sets the lonely in families.”

Family isn’t limited to biological children. My wife and I wanted children, but we married late in life and never had them. Over the years, God has sent several wonderful young people into our lives. They have become like sons and daughters to us.

**And God gave us a greater family.
1 Corinthians 12:27
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Romans 12:5
Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

God not only created a place for you. He made you in such a way that others need you. They need who you are and what you provide. Even your failures, sins, addictions, etc, once healed and restored by God become the very places where God give you strength, wisdom and anointing to help others.
You belong where you can help others. Nothing creates a stronger sense of belonging than being part of a team on a mission.

Action Step:
Heart connect with God and God’s people. Don’t just go to church, get to know people. Talk. Listen well. Encourage others. Get involved in God’s work here on the earth. As you do that, you will soon find that you have found where you belong.

Tomorrow and the next day, I will release videos to continue this teaching with powerful action steps to know where and to whom you belong.
See all the videos in this 30 day series in the playlist in the end screen and in the description below.

“Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” Romans 12:2

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Until tomorrow, God bless.