God doesn’t despise our brokenness. He doesn’t look down on us when we are hurting. He doesn’t think less of us because we are broken.

God loves the broken. He offers healing to the hurting. God is a comfort in times of trouble and sorrow. God doesn’t despise us when we are broken. He is there to help. He offered His love to us while we were still sinners, as it says in Romans 5:8, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He knows how broken and messed up we can be, but He is still there for us. Because God loves us so much, He let Himself be broken so that we could be whole (1 Corinthians 11:24).

When you are feeling broken, you don’t have to be ashamed. You don’t have to turn away from God; you can turn toward Him. You can ask Him for help and healing. You can know that, even in your brokenness, He loves you just as much as ever.

So many times in the Bible, we are reminded of how much God cares for the broken. In Matthew 11, Jesus tells the weary and burdened to come to Him for rest. Even though our sin separated us from God, He came in Jesus so that we could be forgiven and brought near to Him.

God doesn’t despise our brokenness, and He loves us always. We can count on Him to be there for us through all the hard times, as the Bible reassures us that He loves us no matter how broken we are. • Bethany Acker

• Have you ever felt broken?

• When we are in pain, we often feel alone. But Jesus identifies with us in our brokenness. He knows what it’s like to be human. He was broken…for us. When we come to Jesus, we’re coming to someone who understands our pain. He looks at us with deep compassion. He feels our sorrows as His own, and He holds us. And one day, all brokenness will be healed in the light of His presence. As we wait for that day, we can bring all our brokenness to Jesus. How might knowing that God doesn’t look down on us when we are hurting make it easier for us to come to Him?

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I [Jesus] will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 (NIV)