Belonging

[Part 2, Chapter 11] 

Our biggest fear is we’re not good enough, not loved, unaccepted. That no one will like us.

Consequently, the real drugs of choice are not substances, power, or material possessions. They are the manifestations. The real drugs of choice are approval, acceptance, recognition, and belonging.

Whether we know it or not, our deepest need is to know our true identity, and to be secure in that.

Living unaware of our true identity means facing life Fatherless, as a spiritual orphan, not knowing where we’ve come from and where we’re going, and thus not knowing who we truly are.

The orphan spirit is fear based, terrifying us into assuming we don’t belong. Based in true events from our distant or near past, it reminds us over and over that we have to work hard for the acceptance we yearn for. Prettier make up, nicer clothes, funnier jokes, bigger farm, politer children, higher grades, more prestigious employment, you name it.

‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God.’”

(Luke 1:30)

This is the opposite of the orphan spirit. It is adoption.

When we adopt someone today, we do so from outside of our family line. The adopted person has a different genetic makeup; physically, they are completely unrelated to us.

In biblical times, however, adoption happened as part of a rite of passage within the same family unit. From birth till about 12 years of age, the person was seen as a minor within the family. They might have a few daily chores to do, but their number-one role was to be a child. As they didn’t yet participate in the business of the family, they didn’t have access to an inheritance either.

Then, around the age of 12, there would be a rite of celebration where the child was adopted into their own family. This is within the same gene pool, adopted by their own birth parents. The child is now viewed as a son. He gets to work in the family business. Significantly, he also now has full access to the inheritance, and is a fully-fledged heir, with all the privileges and responsibilities this entails.

You can read about this in Galatians 4:1-3. We pick it up from there:

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

(Galatians 4:4-7, NKJV)

Where the orphan spirit is fear based, adoption is favour grounded.

Where there is a fear of not belonging, adoption is the seal of acceptance.

Where we’ve been living with a fear of missing out, adoption legitimises a grand inheritance.

Abba is a word from Jesus’ day, best represented by Daddy or Papa, something intimate and affectionate.

You have a personal Father, an Abba God who loves you. You belong. You are accepted. You are included. Your inheritance—being ‘in Christ’—means that because Jesus has full acceptance, you also have.

Say it out loud: I belong. I am not a spiritual orphan. I have a Father. My identity as son/daughter is assured and secure. I am safe in his love. Yes, I am loved.