Not Of This World

I remember in my youth, I found my belonging in giving others a sense of belonging. I thought that I would be the one to fulfill someone else’s life, that I would be the one to save them from what they struggled with. I found myself lying to save face; I believed that if I were the one to do this for others, I should be the best person they knew.

I hid my faults, my sin, I made myself a bigger deal than I already was. Eventually, I couldn’t keep up the act. My webs of lies caught up to me, and people began to see me for who I truly am. Broken. As a broken human being, I began to realize that I could not save anyone, and if that were the case, who was I as a person? I searched for this truth among those around me; I tried to reinvent myself and become a “better person,” but to no avail.

Finally, I realized that I was ignoring the truth that I had been hearing all my life, the truth that I am not enough, and that’s okay, because Jesus is enough. My belonging and worth are not found in what others think, but in the Lord.

We see many stories like this at camp, where others’ belonging depends on what others think of them, on their outward appearance. It is a hard life to live, depending on what is on the outside to determine what is on the inside. 

Praise God that He doesn’t leave us there. Praise God that in believing in Him, we belong to Him. And in belonging to Him, He makes His home in our hearts. He begins to change us and to change our desires. Our perspectives change, and we no longer find worth in anything else but Him.