When You Believe, You Also Belong - Daily Hope with Rick Warren - December 26, 2025

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“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” Ephesians 1:5 (NLT)

Along with the many gifts God gives at Christmas, we also receive the gift of community. God gives us a spiritual family to support us in obeying him and becoming more like him.

You weren’t meant to go through life alone. You were meant to know God, and you were meant to have a family around you to support you. We always grow and change more in a group than on our own. That’s why most diets and self-help plans don’t work!

God created the entire universe because he wanted a family. Ephesians 1:5 says, “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure” (NLT).

You’re not automatically in God’s family. You have to be adopted into it. How does God adopt you? He adopts you when you choose to put your faith in Jesus. But he doesn’t want you to just believe in him. He wants you to belong to his family. 

Believing in Jesus is all you need to be saved. But once your future home in heaven is secure, God also wants you to belong to his family. Why? Because life is hard, and you’re going to need support. You need a community to help you make good decisions and hard changes.

The Bible says God created the family for support. That family is “the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15 NIV).  

In California, we know the importance of a good foundation because we sometimes have earthquakes. If you don’t have a good support and a good foundation, the house crumbles when the earthquakes come.

You need support for your life. If you don’t have a strong foundation through the support of a spiritual family, you’re putting yourself at risk of crumbling when the tough times come. 

Everybody is created by God. Everybody is loved by God. But not everybody is a child of God. 

The only way you get into God’s family is by choosing. When you choose to follow Jesus, you get the amazing gift of a family that will support you and help you pursue God’s purpose for your life. 

PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick

Rick Warren is an innovative pastor, renowned author, and global influencer known for founding Saddleback Church, the Purpose Driven Network, the PEACE Plan, and Hope for Mental Health. He has written several best-selling books, including The Purpose Driven Life, which has sold over 35 million copies in 200 languages. Time magazine named Warren the most influential spiritual leader in America and one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Since stepping down from the lead pastor role at Saddleback in 2022, Warren has continued to inspire people through his Daily Hope Devotional and podcast Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope. His first book in a decade, Created to Dream, was released in April 2023.

For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit pastorrick.com!

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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

You can listen to Rick Warren on OnePlace.com.