I’m grateful to host Mariel Davenport writing about something near and dear to my heart: true brokenness. May her words change and move you.

I am not a crier. It really takes a lot to bring a tear to my eye.

Having stumbled afresh onto John 3:16, the Lord whispered to my heart, ‘Are you living like you know this to be true?’

This came on the heels of a study into 2 Corinthians 7:8-10. This is part of Paul’s epistle to the Corinthians. He tells them he is thankful for having caused them sorrow. Why would this bring him delight? He was a compassionate man of God, yet here he is saying “Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it.” How can this be? This passage and the heart of Paul here is summed up in the middle of verse 9 with these words: “because your sorrow led you to repentance”

Sorrow. True sorrow over sin. Sorrow that changes us into the image of Jesus. Are you and I living like we have a true realization that every single time we sin THAT is what put Jesus on the cross? Not just all our sins from our past before we know Jesus. But every time we sin today. Every time we will sin tomorrow. I think we get that in our heads, but do we get it with our day to day lives?

Every time I am impatient with my children, unfriendly to a neighbor, unkind to my husband– I am committing sin that put Jesus on the cross. Every time I seek self over others I am putting Jesus on that cross.

In a recent message I heard, I was challenged to live broken. Are you and I living with the humility and brokenness of a child of God covered in grace for our sin– moment by moment and day by day?

When we recognize we’ve sinned do we flippantly say “forgive me, Lord” and go on about our day? Or do we have true sorrow which leads to repentance for our sin?

We often misinterpret tears for sorrow. Tears are not necessarily sorrow as we see in Hebrews 12:17. This verse says of Esau, “He could bring about no change of mind [true repentance], though he sought the blessing with tears.”

True brokenness is an issue of the heart rather than just a wet face! Our Father is looking to the deepest places of our heart and seeking broken daughters and sons to demonstrate His grace in and through. Are you and I willing to live as such?