The Need to Belong
“For he who is not against us is on our side. For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” (Mark 9:40-41 NKJV)
Our little schnauzer Heidi wears bling every day—a tag emblazoned with rhinestones and her name, along with my phone number. The tiny pink heart signifies she belongs to us. She’s ours.
That word “belong” is important in our daily life. For example, when we put our name on something, it usually means ownership, like a coat or baseball bat. It means “hands off…this is attached to someone else.”
It can also refer to a club or special organization. Remember clubs in high school and college? They were among my first experiences in belonging to groups of people—the French club, marching band, yearbook staff, horseback riders, and so forth. Maybe you’re part now of a gardening group, a political party, or a civic organization. We gravitate toward people who have our same interests and proudly tell others that we belong to this or that crowd. We especially enjoy wearing bright colors on “game day” to show we’re cheering for our home team.
At a deeper level, you and I belong to families. We attend weddings to watch two individuals become a group of two, their lives intertwined in a unique commitment called marriage. We wear a wedding ring to show our belonging, a visible signal that says, “Hands off—I’m attached to someone else.”
As Christians, we’re called to join a church, to meet for worship, fellowship, Bible study, and more. Our membership of a church body is, according to Hebrews 10:24-25, engaging with believers to stir up love and good works in each other and exhort others as well, “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some.”
That last admonition from the writer of Hebrews is significant today. Church attendance across our country has dwindled since the onset of the Covid pandemic, with once-faithful members finding it more comfortable now to stay home and occasionally watch a service online.
That’s not belonging to a church. All those who follow Jesus Christ need to be present with other followers, praising Him in music, listening to His word, and absorbing solid teaching. We need the camaraderie of being in the Lord’s family of faith.*
And yet church membership isn’t enough. Being raised in a church or having a card that says you belong to one is not your get-out-of-jail-free ticket to heaven. It doesn’t guarantee an abundant life here on earth either.
Friend, you and I need to belong to Jesus.
When Jesus claims you and ushers you into His flock, you tuck the word “belong” into your heart as one of His very own people. You immediately are adopted into His royal family and live now in His fold, shepherded by the all-powerful God of the universe. You are no longer alone, isolated, rejected, or powerless. Instead, you are embraced and accepted as His child. You are loved beyond all measure by the King of kings because you belong to Him.
Jesus carries your name engraved on the palm of His hand (Isaiah 49:16). He draws you closer to Himself and to enjoy worship and praise with others in His fold. You rejoice in His salvation and the promise only He can give you for entrance into eternal life. Jesus tells Satan, “Hands off—this one belongs to Me.”
If you feel unloved…rejected by the world…craving a fellowship that goes deep—you will find it only in Jesus Christ. Reach out to Him, and you will find that He has reached out first to you. Take His offer to join His family, to belong only to Him.
My prayer this week is that He will enfold you with His loving arms and that you will belong forever, in joy, to Him.
Jesus, dearest Savior, call me to be Yours. Show me the blessings of belonging to You and your church in accepting Your invitation to be adopted into Your family. Let me rejoice in knowing that I am Your forever child, bound to You, never to be separated. Set me apart from the rest of the world, especially from the clutches of Satan. Be my Redeemer and Refuge—my singular Fortress and Shepherd. In Your name, Amen.
Our church frequently recites this comforting statement of belief during our worship services:
From the Heidelberg Catechism, Question #1, composed in 1563 in Heidelberg, Germany:
Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
*I encourage you to participate in church-led worship online if you are physically unable to go in-person. If you’ve simply fallen out of church attendance, I invite you to visit churches near you from our growing denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America (go to https://pcanet.org).
Nancy C. Williams is a Christian wife/mom with a writing career spanning more than 40 years in business and journalism. Williams is the author of the novel To Love a Falcon and the devotional book A Crocus in the Desert: Devotions, Stories, and Prayers for Women Experiencing Infertility. Her blogs are featured on Crossmap.com and AriseDaily. To follow Nancy’s posts and news, go to her home page at NancyCWilliams.com and subscribe at the bottom.
© Copyright 2025 Nancy C. Williams (text and photography). Unless otherwise noted, Scripture verses are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. #belong #clubs #teams #marriage #faith #family #heidelbergcatechism #church #Jesus #Christ #Bible
