Finding Your Place

There is another important stage in achieving acceptance, and that is receiving acceptance from God’s people. This means finding your place in the body of Christ.

You see, as Christians, we are never isolated individuals. We are brought into a relationship with our fellow believers. That relationship is one of the ways in which our acceptance is worked out in our day-to-day living. It is not enough to be accepted by the Father in heaven. That is the first step, and indeed the most important one. However, after that, acceptance has to find expression in our relationships with our fellow believers.

Collectively, Christians constitute one body, with each Christian being a member of that body. None of us can say to our fellow believers, “I don’t need you.” We all need one another. God has created the body in such a way that the members are interdependent. None of them can function effectively on its own. That principle applies to each one of us. It applies to you. You have to find your place in the body of Christ. You need the other members, and they need you. Finding your place in the body makes your acceptance a real, day-to-day experience.

If you are crying out in your heart for this kind of involvement, I suggest that you pray this prayer: “Lord, I long to dwell in Your house, to be part of a spiritual family of committed believers. If there are any barriers in me, I ask You to remove them. Guide me to a group where this longing of mine can be fulfilled, and help me to make the needed commitment to them. In the name of Jesus, amen.”