This post first appeared at Seriously Write.
Every single one of us is broken. First, as members of Adam’s race, we are all broken by sin. Our sins and resultant weaknesses leak out of us daily throughout our lives, even after our salvation, causing consternation, harm, and the necessity of repentance, apologies, and amends. Daily, we sin in thought, word, and/or deed.
Simultaneously, as we move through life, our bodies deteriorate. The march of time causes them to gradually wear down, stretching us thin, taking us closer and closer to heaven, step by step. This, we must yield to God, recognizing that we are not in control of the outcome.
On top of that, we live in a fallen world. Everyone around us and every single human institution is also broken, moving toward decay and decadence. A look at our crumbling society makes this obvious. Brokenness permeates everything, regardless of our efforts.
These circumstances all combine, causing our edges to feel ragged, our emotions fragile, and our sense of self broken. We’re at wit’s end. We’re uncertain what to do. We feel undone.
Jesus was even more aware of this brokenness than we are, and so he came to earth as a human being — fully God and yet fully man simultaneously. As such, he took on the weight of our sins, paying for our redemption with his own blood. He offered salvation to all who would believe in him. That’s the Gospel, the Good News.
Part of that Good News is that no matter the condition of our human frame, our tumultuous emotions, or our current shattered and falling apart circumstances, God can and will use that situation for his purposes. For those who love him, he orchestrates even the breaking for our good.
He has given us the task of telling others, of writing about the reality of these broken places. This is why we write. This is the place where every one of our readers live. They need the Good News. Our words proclaim the truth that we all need to hear. We write for the Savior.
If we’re humble, if we’re transparent, if we’re yielded tools in his hands, he will use our words to open eyes and hearts and lives to the work of his Spirit, bringing men and women to Christ. To reach people where they most need his care, we must write about the breaking. That is its purpose.
After being nearly completely beat down and destroyed, Paul phrased it thus: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-6 ESV).
There we have it. These are our marching orders. Will we write about the breaking, so we can comfort others where they are? When sufferings are abundant, will we share about God’s abundant comfort, helping our readers to patiently endure?
Will we personally write from a place of honesty and transparency, so others can know that they are not alone, that they, too, can turn to Christ?
Will we write about the breaking, so we can comfort others where they are? When sufferings are abundant, will we share about God's abundant comfort, helping our readers to patiently endure? Click To Tweet Will we personally write from a place of honesty and transparency, so others can know that they are not alone, that they, too, can turn to Christ? #WritingCommunity. Click To TweetIn our fiction, will we write characters who are real and broken? Will we fill our fiction with people who may not come to a place of tidy resolution? Will we create persons who must struggle and strive to hope in God, in both good circumstances and in tragic ones? When sufferings are abundant, will we share about God’s abundant comfort, helping our readers to patiently endure?
How has the Lord called you to write about the breaking?
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What an important topic! God has inspired me to write about the breaking by being real with people on social media and in my content, and being open about my mistakes so others don’t make it.
That’s a solid strategy. When we do that, we uplift and encourage our readers. They know they’re not alone and that they can also be open with their own struggles for the encouragement of others.
Melinda, this spoke straight to my heart strings. God calls the broken to help the broken. He needs us to write about, talk about it, live it so that others know how to find strength in their own battles.
Yes, he sends the broken to encourage the broken! No one else can do it. If we’ve never been broken, if we’ve never suffered, we have nothing to say to one who has. Thank you for commenting on this, Brittany. Good insight!
How amazing it is that even in our brokenness and pain, God provides us with purpose! What a merciful truth we can carry close to us throughout all seasons of life!
Knowing there would be brokenness and pain in this fallen world, he redeemed even this by giving it purpose, an opportunity to uplift others, and meaning.
We receive comfort so we can give it to others. Transparency makes all the difference.
Transparency is the key to both ministering to others and to receiving the help of others.
So true! We need to debunk the myth that becoming a Christian solves all of our troubles. I strive to write beautifully broken characters and hope my blog conveys my own struggles and victories.
I do the same in my fiction and urge other writers to do likewise. Our fiction can follow Jesus’ model of storytelling via his parables.
I specifically write to couples who are experiencing marital struggles. My husband and I meet with many couples on some difficult issues. One of the main reasons I can write about this topic and meet with these couples is because my husband and I understand. We have not always done marriage well, but God has taught us much and we are on the other side, thriving. It’s a joy to help couples cross over from the unending difficulties of marriage to finding peace in God’s truth.
I had read this previously on Seriously Write, but I gleaned new things this second reading, Melinda. It amazes me how the Lord uses broken people…”damaged goods” I often say for His kingdom work and to minister to others. And that’s never more true than in writing when we are transparent and vulnerable to bear our souls. Because we know the One who heals broken lives, souls, and hearts.
Melinda, I was so blessed when I read this on Seriously Write, but it is so important to have this reminder brought to the surface of our hearts again and again. We are wounded healers. All of us who walk in Christ. May our the redeemed brokenness in our lives bring healing and hope to others. I’m praying we can all be used by God for this very purpose, as we write. May Jesus Christ be praised!
Thank you so much, sister!