JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<div id="mainMenu">
    <span>Thing 5</span>
    <span>Thing 4</span>
    <span>Thing 7</span>
    <span>Thing 1</span>
    <span>Thing 5</span>
    <span>Thing 6</span>
    <span>Thing 3</span>
</div>

CSS

span{
    display:block;
}

JavaScript

$span = $('#mainMenu span').sort(function(a, b) {
    if ($(a).text() < $(b).text()) return -1;
    if ($(a).text() > $(b).text()) return 1;
    return 0;
});
$('#mainMenu').html($span);