Inspiration Nation: The Gift of Being Broken

He was born so I can live forever with my family & loved ones AND YOU CAN TO!

mormon.org

"Sometimes I just feel broken.

I look at my life and see all the ways I fall short--all the those things I said I'd do that I didn't, all the expectations I had for myself that I never fulfilled. I see my weaknesses that I never fulfilled. I see my weaknesses and frustratingly human frailty and the way it's affected people negatively in my life.

I see my broken heartedness... and wonder sometimes if I'll even feel whole again.

There are many ways to feel broken--physically because of illness or injury; emotionally because of unfulfilled desires or loss of a relationship; mentally because of anxiety, depression, or other mental illness; or spiritually because of crippling doubts or crises of faith.

In the midst of all these, it can be easy to agonize over whether or not we can ever be acceptable to God or be of use in His kingdom because we're so human and broken.

However, God is good, and He has taught me a valuable lesson about being broken through my life's experiences.

BROKENNESS IS A GIFT

Why? Because our brokenness connects us to each other, and our brokenness brings us to Christ. It is by bringing our broken hearts to Him that we are made whole.

Sharing our brokenness brings meaning to our experiences, and the connection we make with others when we share our stories brings healing. Being broken is a gift, because when we are broken, we recognize the need for a Savior to make us whole.

There's a reason that the sacrifice Jesus asks of us is a 'broken heart and a contrite spirit'. A broken heart is one that is open to Him, that lets in His grace. He felt our pains and sorrows first, and by going through a little of what He went through, we feel his power in our lives.

It's been in moments like that when I feel most vulnerable and the most broken, that I have felt the Savior's love the strongest. He does not condemn me for my weakness or demand that I move faster; He stays by my side. Every time I take the sacrament, it reminds me that it's okay that I'm broken, because Jesus was broken too.

He is 'a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief', and with His stripes, I am healed.

I am grateful for the gift of being broken.

God has shown me that He loves me [and you] and uses me not in spite of the fact that I'm broken, but because of it. As Christ says in Ether 12:27, "And if men [or women] come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble, and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then I will make weak things become strong unto them."

No matter our weaknesses and shortcomings, with Him standing beside us, hand in hand with Him and with those we love, we are w h o l e."

-Ariel Szuch

Lovelies, I testify we are broken to be made stronger.