Home Is Where the Heart Is

601 Central Avenue. It was the address I memorized in kindergarten, the one printed on my driver’s permit, as well as the one used to send my college acceptance letter. For me, home was 601 Central Avenue, where I collected years of memories.

It’s not the same with my daughter. We’ve moved a lot over the years, and along with the boxes of personal items I carry from one place to the next, I also carry a box of guilt—guilt I feel for not giving my daughter a home where she could experience the same stability I had growing up.

During a recent move, my box of guilt came open and its contents fell out between us while packing. As I shared with her how I felt, she listened, and then without hesitation said, “Mom, to me home isn’t a house; it’s wherever you and Daddy are. My home is my family.”

As children of God, our home isn’t a building, or even on this earth—it’s with God. As Paul says, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household” (Eph. 2:19).

But if you have yet to join God’s family, know that there’s always room for one more. You need only to be “born again” into His family (John 3:3), by accepting the gift of salvation Jesus has won for you through His death on the cross.

Then, as members of God’s family, nothing can separate us from our heavenly Father (Rom 8:38-39), and nothing should keep us from wanting to spend time fellowshipping and worshipping with our brothers and sisters in Christ (Heb. 10:25). After all, we have the blood of Christ and the bond of the Holy Spirit holding us together—and there are no ties stronger than those.

For more teaching on being a part of the body of Christ, listen to Dr. Stanley’s message, “Members of the Body,” airing today on radio.