I can’t forget the look in her eye as she nervously spun her cell phone in her hand and looked at me waiting for an answer.

“Are you asking me if you’re too broken to be loved or to be in a relationship?” I clarified.

“Yes.”

I frowned, saddened by the idea that she was wrestling with this question, and saddened by my own memories of wrestling with these difficult concepts.

“No. You’re not too broken to be loved. You’re not too broken for anything,” I replied.

This wasn’t a “be your own truth” or “don’t let anyone speak that into your life” kind of self-help message. This was a gospel truth.

I have wrestled with this question several times before in my own life. At times I have felt overwhelmed by my own propensity toward sin, or my lack of mental health has left me wondering if I would be too much for everyone around me to be able to manage. Could I ever be someone’s wife? Could I be mentally stable enough to have kids and come out with my sense of self and my marriage intact?

This is part of what I shared with my friend.

Poor in Spirit

Jesus said in one of his most famous sermons, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” It may seem like a cynical joke but it isn’t. It is one of the most sacred truths that apostle Paul teaches. When I am weak, He is strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-11). This is one of the most excruciating lessons I have had the opportunity to learn, a lesson I am still journeying with.

If you have come to a place where you realize you need help, you are at the perfect place of growth. If you notice your life isn’t working and something needs to change, you are open to change. If you are sitting in a pile of the ashes from relationships you have burned, looking at yourself wondering how you got here, mourning the absence of the person you once were and once liked. You may not feel it. But you, my friend, are at a place of hope.

With Christ as our model and the Beatitudes as our Hymn, none of us are too broken for love and none of us are too broken for ministry.

Rich in Hope

There is hope for us who are too sick to be friends, because Christ befriended the unwell. There is hope for us who have made such a mess of our lives, because Christ transforms lives. There is hope for those who have been traumatized by the choices others have made because Christ heals through healthy community, scripture, and the renewal of our minds.

With Christ as our model and the Beatitudes as our Hymn, none of us are too broken for love and none of us are too broken for ministry. Things will probably look a bit different for us, and that’s ok.

We might have a lower capacity because of our weekly appointments with our pastor, counselor, mentor, or psychiatrist. We might not be able to be a pastor or an overseas missionary because of these limitations. But we can still take to heart the Great Commission and hold close the promise found in 2 Corinthians 1:3-7.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

We are comforted so that we can comfort others with the comfort we have received. No one is ever too broken for Jesus. In fact, the most broken among us are sometimes the closest to Christ because they are well acquainted with their need for a Saviour in every move they make.

So no, you are not too broken to be loved. With Christ, you are not too broken for anything he has called you to be or do.

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About the Author

Jess Versteeg

Jess has worked for over a decade in Montreal in various roles on and off-campuses in both French and English. She’s currently a mentor and writer.

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