Even the Broken Are Loved

“A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” Isaiah 42:3

The average Christian could easily mislabel the Christian life as an easy one. With a God who is so good to them, how could they have a hard one anyway? Especially in a culture that portrays Christians with easy, routine lives, it feels wrong to be a broken person. Like if you confess your flaws to God he will stop loving you. Or the only way to be a Christian is to balance your crumbling life even when your knees are buckling and tears are streaming off your face. 

The gospels are four books narrating Jesus’ life and how he fulfilled this very prophecy. The gospel of Luke portrays Jesus’ ministry as The Upside Down Kingdom or Upside Down Living. Because the Pharisees themselves believed they were perfect, they had created the lie that God can only love perfect people. Jesus shatters that lie. He turns our worldview completely upside down.

Jesus helps the needy, comforts the scared, he heals the wounded. 

It reminds me of last summer. I was in a dry season with my faith at the time and deep in guilt. And it had been that way for so long that I didn’t even realize it. My family and I were on a family trip, sitting in our tiny trailer. We were communing together in the Bible, and my father had led us into a time of meditation. Silence enveloped the cramped camper as we slumped over our half-folded hands. 

I don’t remember if I was praying or what I was praying about, but all I remember is an image appearing in my head. It was of Jesus, cradling me like he would a child. It brought sweet tears rolling down my face. I had been living in a time of utter guilt. I felt like I couldn’t come to Jesus because of my broken state. But Jesus wanted me. Jesus wanted to comfort me. “Jesus will always be there, comforting us like a child.” I had told tearfully to my family. That night I felt the amber warmth of Jesus’ unconditional love swath over me like a well-loved quilt. 

God could love me, despite my dying, broken soul. Isaiah 42 says,

“A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.”

Everyone is bruised, everyone’s soul is dying. And Jesus chose to change that. By dying on the cross he healed our bruised bodies. By choosing us he re-kindled our smoldering souls. And because of this, we can come to Jesus as we are, even with our scars and tears and sin. Jesus will hold our bruised souls in his gentle hands and never let go.

Even the broken are loved.