This “brokenness to wholeness” paradigm is a pony I’m riding hard these days.
Why? Because I’m seeing broken Christians everywhere I turn, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better.
So in these days I want to contribute to the Kingdom by addressing this, and even providing some tools to move hurting believers in the right direction.
You might self-identify as experiencing brokenness, and want to move toward wholeness. What does it look like, then, to be whole? Here are 10 markers.
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It means that you aren’t looking for wholeness in places apart from God.
There are plenty of things people look toward for fulfillment – money, relationships, power, all the usual suspects. These can bring temporal peace, but nothing that will last.
2 Corinthians 12:9 reads, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
2. It means that no one but God Himself can return you to wholeness.
Understand that in moving from brokenness to wholeness God alone gives strength and stamina. He gives it directly to your heart, and knowing that He is our portion is to know that He completes our heart.
Psalm 73:26 reads, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
3. You can’t realistically expect other people to meet the needs only Jesus Christ can.
I’m all about the support and encouragement other people can offer. Iron sharpens iron, right? But at the foundation, only Jesus Himself can fully satisfy. He completes our joy.
John 15:11 reads, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”
4. Relying on God is the only way you can be healed and fulfilled.
It’s tempting to look for other sources to help you move from brokenness to wholeness. If you truly want healing and fulfillment, anything apart from God is just a Band-Aid.
Psalms 107:20 reads, “He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.”
5. You realize your worth is not defined by your appearance, job performance, human relationships, or anything apart from your relationship with God as His child.
Your identity comes from the relationship you have with Jesus Christ. He alone has the authority to determine your worth. If we could all learn to see ourselves as God sees us – perfected in Him – our lives would be so much more complete and fulfilled.
2 Corinthians 5:7 reads, “We live by faith, not by sight.”
6. Don’t say “It’s impossible.” God gives freedom. You are forgiven and loved no matter what. You show God gratitude by living in His light and making wise choices.
How about embracing the freedom that comes from Christ alone? In Him, you and I are liberated from the bondage of impossibility. God isn’t limited, and that includes unlimited grace in your life. That brings wholeness.
1 Peter 5:7 reads, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
7. You don’t live your life to please other people. Instead, you strive to please God by discovering your purpose in Him and living that to the max.
No matter what others think, you follow God and not the expectations of others. Easy, right? If you tend to be a people-pleaser, you’ll choke on this one. The call, though, is to follow God even when it doesn’t make sense to anyone else. They aren’t responsible for your worth on earth or destination in eternity.
Psalm 94:19 reads, “When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.”
8. Stop yourself immediately when an unhealthy thought enters your mind, and challenge it with “Does this thought line up with the word of God?”
Another tough one. How does this even work? If you’re prone to overthink, this one might seem well nigh impossible. The trick, it seems, is to talk to yourself using God’s word. That crowds out unhealthy thinking and encourages wholeness. Try it.
Psalm 42:5 reads, “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my savior and my God.”
9. The battlefield is your mind, first and foremost.
This piggybacks on the preceding point. There is a battle for your mind going on, 24/7/365. That’s Satan’s portal into your life, right?
Read the scripture below. What argument are you having in your head about yourself? Demolish it. A “pretension” is what we claim about ourselves. Demolish it.
2 Corinthians 10:5 reads, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
10. Thoughts that lead to brokenness are the devil’s way of blocking what God wants you to know about who you are in Christ. You have to take those thoughts about yourself and lock them up. Make your mind listen to what God has to say about you. If you do, you will find wholeness.
I hope this was helpful. We’re all pilgrims, at different waypoints along the journey, but following God is so worth it.
Talk later.