Life Principle 15
Brokenness is God’s requirement for maximum usefulness. (Jer 15:19)
Brokenness is God’s requirement for maximum usefulness. (Jer 15:19)
Life’s Questions
Sometimes it just doesn’t make sense. You seek God and try to be obedient to Him, but trouble and heartbreak confront you at every turn. Perhaps you thought that life would get easier after you accepted Christ as your Savior, but you’ve found just the opposite to be true. Now you have to deal with the troubles that the world throws at you, and you also feel responsible to honor God in how you respond to them. Somewhere inside of you, you’ve come to the realization that you’re just not strong enough to live the holy life that Christ has called you to.
Good! God never meant you to live the Christian life by your own resources. The trials that you’ve been experiencing are part of the breaking process, whereby God frees you from your self-sufficiency so that you’ll allow Christ to live in and through you. That’s why Life Principle 15 teaches, Brokenness is God’s requirement for maximum usefulness. It’s through brokenness that you stop depending on yourself and start looking to Him for your strength, wisdom, and power.
What the Bible Says
Read 2 Kings 21:1–16. How did Manasseh’s sin affect Judah (9–12, 16)?
Read Jeremiah 15:4–6. What was God’s judgment upon Judah?
*** Jeremiah was a prophet in Judah from 627 BC to c. 586 BC. He served after Manasseh’s reign (c. 685 BC to 630 BC), but the ongoing corruption of the king’s idolatry was felt throughout Judah for many years (see Ex. 20:4–5; Jer. 15:4). God’s punishment for Judah was the Babylonian captivity. Jeremiah’s sad duty was to warn the people of the judgment that was coming.
Read Jeremiah 15:15–21. How did Jeremiah respond to God’s verdict (15)?
What was Jeremiah’s concern about God’s judgment (18)? When have you ever felt as Jeremiah did?
What was God’s promise to Jeremiah (19–21)?
What do you think it means to “take out the precious from the vile” (19)?
*** Nothing could prevent God’s judgment, yet Jeremiah was still responsible to proclaim the truth to those who were perishing, in the hope that they would repent and be saved (see Jer. 18:8).
How do you think God would make Jeremiah into “a fortified bronze wall” (20; see also Jer. 1:18–19)?
What It Means
At times, the suffering that you go through will seem immensely unfair—especially when it occurs at the hand of another person. Jeremiah was a godly man who had to endure the consequences of Manasseh’s sin—even though he had nothing to do with the king’s wickedness. Still, God used the pressure to make Jeremiah into His holy mouthpiece, and Jeremiah’s words have endured throughout the generations, bringing hope to countless people undergoing similar persecution.
You must remember that, even when the adversity that you are experiencing appears to be senseless, “All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). That trial has been allowed in your life for an eternal reason—a purpose beyond what you can see or understand at the moment. However, you can be absolutely confident that God will use it for good in your life if you submit yourself to Him and trust Him (see 1 Peter 2:19–20).
Life Examples
Read 2 Corinthians 1:3–11. How does Paul describe God in verse 3?
How does God treat you while you are going through adversity (4)?
What is God training you to do as He is comforting you (4–5)?
Why would adversity make you a more effective minister of the gospel (6)?
What did Paul see as the purpose for his great suffering (8–10)?
Living the Principle
Romans 8:20–21 explains, “The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” In other words, you’ve experienced these frustrating trials so that you can be free of the sin nature that is left within you. Yes, you are forgiven of all your sin when you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior. However, the tendency to want to sin remains within you, and He must break you of it.
God does so for two reasons: to transform you into the image of Christ (see Rom. 8:29; Eph 5:1), and to develop your potential as His representative in the world (see Phil. 3:9–10; Col. 1:24; Heb 2:18; 1 Peter 4:12–16). Therefore, commit yourself to God and heed the words of 1 Peter 4:19: “Those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.”
In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. (Heb. 2:10 NIV)
How will you live out Life Principle 15 this week? Discuss the trials that you are facing and encourage each other to remain faithful and obedient to God. Then spend time in prayer, asking God to draw you into intimate communion with Himself and to transform your life, so that you can affect the world for the sake of His kingdom.
Life Lessons to Remember
Sometimes it just doesn’t make sense. You seek God and try to be obedient to Him, but trouble and heartbreak confront you at every turn. Perhaps you thought that life would get easier after you accepted Christ as your Savior, but you’ve found just the opposite to be true. Now you have to deal with the troubles that the world throws at you, and you also feel responsible to honor God in how you respond to them. Somewhere inside of you, you’ve come to the realization that you’re just not strong enough to live the holy life that Christ has called you to.
Good! God never meant you to live the Christian life by your own resources. The trials that you’ve been experiencing are part of the breaking process, whereby God frees you from your self-sufficiency so that you’ll allow Christ to live in and through you. That’s why Life Principle 15 teaches, Brokenness is God’s requirement for maximum usefulness. It’s through brokenness that you stop depending on yourself and start looking to Him for your strength, wisdom, and power.
What the Bible Says
Read 2 Kings 21:1–16. How did Manasseh’s sin affect Judah (9–12, 16)?
Read Jeremiah 15:4–6. What was God’s judgment upon Judah?
*** Jeremiah was a prophet in Judah from 627 BC to c. 586 BC. He served after Manasseh’s reign (c. 685 BC to 630 BC), but the ongoing corruption of the king’s idolatry was felt throughout Judah for many years (see Ex. 20:4–5; Jer. 15:4). God’s punishment for Judah was the Babylonian captivity. Jeremiah’s sad duty was to warn the people of the judgment that was coming.
Read Jeremiah 15:15–21. How did Jeremiah respond to God’s verdict (15)?
What was Jeremiah’s concern about God’s judgment (18)? When have you ever felt as Jeremiah did?
What was God’s promise to Jeremiah (19–21)?
What do you think it means to “take out the precious from the vile” (19)?
*** Nothing could prevent God’s judgment, yet Jeremiah was still responsible to proclaim the truth to those who were perishing, in the hope that they would repent and be saved (see Jer. 18:8).
How do you think God would make Jeremiah into “a fortified bronze wall” (20; see also Jer. 1:18–19)?
What It Means
At times, the suffering that you go through will seem immensely unfair—especially when it occurs at the hand of another person. Jeremiah was a godly man who had to endure the consequences of Manasseh’s sin—even though he had nothing to do with the king’s wickedness. Still, God used the pressure to make Jeremiah into His holy mouthpiece, and Jeremiah’s words have endured throughout the generations, bringing hope to countless people undergoing similar persecution.
You must remember that, even when the adversity that you are experiencing appears to be senseless, “All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). That trial has been allowed in your life for an eternal reason—a purpose beyond what you can see or understand at the moment. However, you can be absolutely confident that God will use it for good in your life if you submit yourself to Him and trust Him (see 1 Peter 2:19–20).
Life Examples
Read 2 Corinthians 1:3–11. How does Paul describe God in verse 3?
How does God treat you while you are going through adversity (4)?
What is God training you to do as He is comforting you (4–5)?
Why would adversity make you a more effective minister of the gospel (6)?
What did Paul see as the purpose for his great suffering (8–10)?
Living the Principle
Romans 8:20–21 explains, “The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” In other words, you’ve experienced these frustrating trials so that you can be free of the sin nature that is left within you. Yes, you are forgiven of all your sin when you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior. However, the tendency to want to sin remains within you, and He must break you of it.
God does so for two reasons: to transform you into the image of Christ (see Rom. 8:29; Eph 5:1), and to develop your potential as His representative in the world (see Phil. 3:9–10; Col. 1:24; Heb 2:18; 1 Peter 4:12–16). Therefore, commit yourself to God and heed the words of 1 Peter 4:19: “Those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.”
In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. (Heb. 2:10 NIV)
How will you live out Life Principle 15 this week? Discuss the trials that you are facing and encourage each other to remain faithful and obedient to God. Then spend time in prayer, asking God to draw you into intimate communion with Himself and to transform your life, so that you can affect the world for the sake of His kingdom.
Life Lessons to Remember
- Through brokenness, you gain a new perspective of God’s mercy and provision (see Ps. 73:25–26).
- You develop a more complete comprehension of yourself (see Ps. 73:21–23).
- Your compassion and understanding for the suffering of others grows (see Heb. 5:2).