For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. -Romans 3:23-24
There is a Japanese tradition and artform called Kintsugi. Kintsugi can be translated as golden joinery or golden repair. It is defined as “the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise.”
There is a reality that we all live in. That reality is that there is brokenness in the world. I think far too often we live in a photoshopped, edited for Instagram world that makes it seem like we always have to put on a good face or pretend that everything is okay or that we are not hurting. When we start to believe this about the world around us, we start to put expectations on ourselves that are not realistic or healthy. We start to believe that who we are is too broken to be loved, too broken to be heard, too broken to worthy, and too broken to be forgiven.
We are reminded in the verse above that God indeed knows the reality of the brokenness of life and meets us with grace, forgiveness and love. God made you, including all that makes you unique. The journey that has caused pain and hurt has also caused learning and growth. I am not saying that we should just speak about our pain and not receive help, but I am saying that this is the part of the journey. Growing and healing through the journey is something to be celebrated and seen as beautiful. God loves us and forgives us, not just to hide what we’ve gone through, but to show how beautiful the grace of God is. We are not perfect, but we are loved by an ever-loving, grace filled God. And that sounds just about perfect to me.
Jay Kiel
