Because God is love, he treasures relationships. God’s very nature is relational, and he identifies himself in family terms: Father, Son, and Spirit. The Trinity is God's relationship to himself. It's the perfect pattern for relational harmony. He didn't need a family; he desired one.

The only way to get into God's family is by being born again into it. When we place our faith in Christ, God becomes our Father, we become his children, other believers become our brothers and sisters, and the church becomes our spiritual family. Your spiritual family is even more important than your physical family because it will last forever. This eternal inheritance is what you should be looking forward to and working for.

Identifying with God’s family:
Family members are not ashamed to be recognized as a part of the family. Jesus isn't ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters. You are a part of God's family! Being included in God's family is the highest honor and the greatest privilege you will ever receive. Nothing else comes close. Whenever you feel unimportant, unloved, or insecure, remember to whom you belong.

Baptism doesn't make you a member of God's family; only faith in Christ does that. Baptism signifies your inclusion in God's family. Your baptism declares your faith, shares Christ's burial and resurrection, symbolizes your death to your old life, and announces your new life in Christ. It is an act of initiation, not something you put off until you are spiritually mature. The only biblical condition is that you believe.

Question to Consider:       
How can I start treating other believers like members of my own family?

Verse to Remember:
His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. 

Ephesians 1:5