I’ve been hearing some lingo lately in the ministry circles that I’m plugged into… “God needs to break you of _______________, before he can use you for _________________.” This rhetoric has a certain twinge to it, much like the suspect potato salad at your last church picnic, the first bite is a tasty and good, but then your tongue begins to tingle… At this point there is a decision to be made, you could either spit the potato salad out or smother it in ketchup and take another bite.

I’ve never liked ketchup.

I want to state this first, God desires for you to be broken before Him. In this posture we let go of our dreams and desires and grab a hold of His, in this moment we realize our inadequacy and truly own our sins. Only through brokenness can we grasp what Jesus did on the cross of Calvary. In brokenness we become a pliable chunk of clay in the hands of the master sculptor.

You must be broken to understand salvation. You must remain pliable to withstand sanctification.

The goal in living a Christo-centric life is to maintain the posture of brokenness throughout our lives, yielding to the sculptors tools and embracing the warmth of the sculptors hands. At times we must withstand enormous pressure as God uses outside forces to give us form, and other times we must appreciate the gentle nudging of the Spirit, who refines our thoughts and motives. All the while we must be cautious of the subtleties of pride. A small dose of pride can be the catalyst that turns a pliable piece of clay into a hard lump of ceramic. And when God applies pressure to a piece of hard ceramic it can do nothing but break. A life of arrogance and false humility is like a piece of clay that has been made hard…

God must break you so that He can mold you. The choice then is yours. If you maintain a posture of humility and brokenness, God can mold and shape you in ways that you could never imagine. But if you continue to harden your heart in pride you will have a future of being continually broken before Him. The difference is subtle but very important, as the goal of discipleship (a life of sanctification) is to maintain a posture of brokenness so that pride may not have a chance to creep in and harden your pliable heart.