Broken // Holy Tuesday [Holy Week]

March 26th, 2024

Broken
Author: Jill Wargo, Ridge Kids Director
Day 3: Holy Tuesday
Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:34-40
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Imagine you were to grab a flower vase out of the cabinet to add some spring decor to your dining room table. You begin to fill it with water and notice there’s not one hole in it, but several. Water is leaking everywhere! It’s a beautiful piece, but there’s no sense in keeping it. It’s broken! You take it to the trash, where it belongs because it no longer serves its purpose.

We were once this broken vase. Brokenness spreads through us, and we are only made new with the love of Jesus! Jesus saw us and our worth. He didn’t throw us out because of our brokenness. Jesus loves us. He heals us. He makes us new. Even on our worst days, Jesus sees the goodness within us. Jesus loves each of us so much that He paid for our brokenness by dying on the cross for our sins, and this is why we celebrate Easter.

When the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. And one of them, an expert in the law, asked a question to test Him: “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

– Matthew 22:34-40

We are commanded first to love God with every piece of us—our hearts, our souls, and our minds. To me, that is simple. I do love Him. I love my Heavenly Father. He is more than amazing and easy to love.

Secondly, we are commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves. Pause for a moment. Think about how you truly love yourself. Have you recently thought, “Am I enough for my friends and family?” “I am a failure,” or “I don’t like who I am.” What things are you saying to yourself that are not loving?

You are God’s workmanship, and His workmanship is wonderful.

If we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves and do this because of our love for God, we aren’t going to go to our neighbors and say the unloving things we say to ourselves. We aren’t going to treat them as poorly as we treat ourselves at times. We must begin with loving ourselves just as Jesus loves us. You can know that you are enough because God sent His Son to die for your salvation on the cross. Romans 5:8 says, "But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!” We must stand firm in what God says to be true of us to live out the commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise You because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and I know this very well.

– Psalm 139:13-14

Take time to think about how remarkably and wonderfully you are made. You are God’s workmanship, and His workmanship is wonderful. Today, I challenge you to reflect on your identity in Christ—and encourage someone else to do the same.