Yes, you are broken. No, you’re not perfect just the way you are—and that’s OK!
Photo credit: “Reflections of Christ”
So many of us feel deeply offended and hurt if it’s ever remotely insinuated that we may be flawed in any way. Conversely, many of us wallow in self-loathing and shame because we feel broken and that we need to be fixed to be able to feel any semblance of sanity and wholeness. We—including myself in the past—often overcorrect from self-hatred, shame, or insecurity to having pride in our flawed nature or depraved carnal appetites. But, the truth is, each of us is broken! All of us are. And yes, we do need fixing—and that’s OK!
Compliments of the Fall of Adam and Eve, all of us are born fallen, separated from God’s presence, with corrupt, imperfect bodies. At the same time, God has given each of us desires, appetites, and passions that are good and righteous. But we’re each also subject to physical and/or mental disorders and challenges in one variety or another, which often corrupt our good and healthy desires and appetites in distorted and unhealthy applications. That’s simply part of mortality.
Whether it’s a struggle being born with an issue of blood, with deformed body parts, or a various array of mental illnesses or disorders—depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, OCD, gender dysphoria, and, dare I say, sexual attraction for the same gender—all of us are broken in some way or another. We are not perfect “just the way we are.” “There is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by [Jesus’] grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in [him] …” (Romans 3:22-24). That’s not at all to say that physical or mental impairments are sinful—they are not—but we all need Jesus Christ and his healing, strengthening, saving grace to help us cope and overcome.
Photo credit: “Reflections of Christ”
Much of the confusion surrounding these misunderstandings is derived from the popular phrase, “You are enough!” It plays off the doctrinally correct principle that there is nothing that we can do to earn God’s love and grace; “For by grace [we] have been saved through faith. And this is not [our] own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works …” (Ephesians 2:8-9); and, “ … God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). He loves us just by the nature of us being his children. He loves us unceasingly and eternally despite our actions. In this sense, yes, we are “enough” and there’s nothing we need to do to be “worthy” of God’s love; but, this truth often gets touted and misconstrued to denote that we don’t need to change anything in our lives. This is simply false.
Yes, our worth and God’s love for us is merited simply by virtue of being his children, but we cannot abide in his love without repenting and keeping his commandments; much like how we cannot receive God’s grace without having faith in him and seeking to do his will. As Jesus taught: “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love” (John 15:10). Without repentance and submitting our wills to the Lord, we cut ourselves off from his endless supply of love and grace, leaving ourselves damned in a fallen state, leading ourselves by our own flawed wisdom or the wisdom of the world.
So, the next time we feel like someone might be blatantly or subtly alluding to us being broken or needing fixing, may we choose to not be offended nor choose to needlessly shame ourselves, but rather may we choose to be humble, to recognise our fallen, sinful states, and choose to rely solely on Jesus’ enabling, strengthening, sustaining, and saving grace to help us overcome, change, and improve ourselves; that we may abide more fully in his love and be transformed into new creatures, becoming partakers with Christ in the divine nature. Amen!
