This past week I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend the SEEK Conference in San Antonio, Texas, with 12,000 other college students. You heard that right; 12,000 students who are in college and who are actively pursuing their faith. Pretty cool, right? I think so too. While there, we all had the opportunity to listen to numerous speakers who discussed various topics surrounding the faith. One of the most notable speakers (in my opinion) was Father Mike Schmitz. One line from his entire speech stood out to me and has been repeating in my head over and over:

“Too many people believe in Jesus, but not enough people belong to Him.”

What a powerful statement. If this doesn’t make you reevaluate your faith, I don’t know what will.

Saying you believe in Jesus without living a life worthy of proof is like an average everyday citizen saying they are a professional athlete or a celebrity. That’s nice…but where is the proof? Are you doing anything convincing to make people believe you? As Christians, it is our responsibility to show people that our belief in Jesus in so strong that we truly belong to Him. We have dedicated our hearts to Him and are determined to live our lives for Him.

Belonging to Jesus, and not just believing, takes perseverance and passion. It takes more than simply church on Sundays or wearing a cross around your neck. It means being kind to people, making time to pray, discerning your calling in live and pursuing it, and using your God-given gifts and talents to better the world around you. It means putting in effort into the one relationship that you have always been and will always be able to count on.

If you went weeks without talking to your best friend or doing anything to help grow your friendship, and then randomly talked to them one day when you needed something from them, you wouldn’t have a healthy friendship at all. If you only fed yourself once a week and didn’t try to take care yourself otherwise, you wouldn’t have a healthy relationship with your body. Likewise, we as Christians cannot fall under the assumption that no effort is necessary in our relationship with God. We cannot fall into the habit of saying ‘I believe in God’ without having anything to back ourselves up with.

Belief is easy. All it takes is words. Belonging requires actions, commitment, effort, and determination. Believing in Jesus is the first step, but allowing yourself to completely belong to him is the gateway that needs to be broken wide open in order for us to have a fulfilling life of faith.