I Belong...

I think it was pretty evident in school that I knew Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs and pulled it out whenever I could. It really was one of my favorties, I'm not sure if that makes me a geek. But me and Maslow, we were good pals in University.

Maslow had a good point you know... we all have basic human needs. I think the one that stuck out to me personally was the need to belong. It's the third from the bottom... first comes Physiological, then comes Safety, and then comes the Social aspect of our needs. We naturally feel the need to belong... to a family, to a group of friends, to someone. I think it really stems around the idea that we all need to feel loved by someone.

I've grown up in the church most of my life and was brought up to believe that we are all part of the family of God, that we belong to Him, our Creator. How amazing is it that we are loved and we belong to God!

I've recently come across a song by Kathryn Scott called "I Belong". It's a great song and the words are so simple, yet powerful. She reflects on a portion of scripture taken from Romans 8:38, 39...

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Such an awesome thing to ponder. God loves us, and nothing, absolutely nothing can seperate us from that. God loves us beyond our shortcomings, our faults, our failures. We belong to Him and He loves us. It doesn't matter what happens or who tries to stand in our way... regardless of our past, present or future... HE LOVES US UNCONDITIONALLY and NOTHING and NOBODY can seperate us from HIM!

Sometimes we drift away from God, we forget that we belong to Him and we carry on as though we've been seperated from Him... But He's still there, loving us irregardless and waiting for us to return to Him.

Come near to God and He will come near to you... Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up

When I was making my way through James some time ago, these words stuck out to me from James 4:8&10.
God's love is unconditiona... He loves us irregardless... He wants us to seek Him, draw close to Him, to hunger and thirst for His righteousness, and to follow His will for our lives.

This song is a great reminder of God's love for us and reminds us of the peace and comfort that comes from knowing that we belong.

Check off that third block Maslow, God's got love and belonging covered!