Made to Break

“Things aren’t made like they used to be.”

Many people have made this statement about different items, and sometimes it is the cold, hard truth.

What’s the point in spending our hard-earned money on products if they are going to break inevitably?

Better yet, why do we do it?

I think there are a couple of reasons for the new deterioration in product quality and for our eagerness to purchase such items.

First, in today’s world, many products are mass-produced and made very quickly, replacing some of these once well-made, sturdy, helpful, and long-lasting products with cheaper-to-produce alternatives that don’t last as long.

Secondly, I think a big reason many of us tend to purchase short-lived products is that we are influenced to do so.

Living with the World Wide Web and social media makes it very easy to compare ourselves and our possessions to what everyone else has. And when influencers are always showing us how their new gadget is making their lives better, it can be easy to fall into the trap of buying items just because “they” have them – without questioning whether the product is well-made or usable in our households.

A Forbes article explained, “Influencers also can have a large impact on driving consumer purchasing behavior. A recent study found that 74% of consumers have bought a product because an influencer recommended it.”

Thanks to the internet, these once-ordinary people have been given direct access into our living rooms, bedrooms, and everywhere else we sit, scroll, and shop. Before we know it, in an effort to keep up with the Joneses, we are tempted to buy their advertised items that will only satisfy us temporarily.

Meanwhile, shortly after making those purchases we thought we needed in the moment, we find they are sitting on a shelf, making their way to a donation pile, or in the trash.

After all, we never needed them, and they were very likely made to break.

However, what would you say if I told you that much like those products that are here today and gone tomorrow, you, yourself, were also made to be broken?

As Christ-followers and Bible-believing Christians, we were made to be broken and set apart – and that is something that very few influencers are going to try to sell you on their social media pages.

The call to follow Christ is one that we must make every single day – and in doing so, we must daily deny ourselves.

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me (Luke 9:23).

The thing is, when we deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Him, we should also be broken by the things that break His heart.

The travesty of any sin should break us, not just the ones we think are minor.

Our hearts should ache for holiness when we look at the wickedness happening around us.

We should want nothing more than to share the hope of the gospel – in love – with others who are lost and (maybe unknowingly) living in sin.

David was “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14), and in Psalm 51, he shares this:

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise (Psalm 51:17).

The Lord doesn’t want our pride; He wants our brokenness (Psalm 34:18).

He doesn’t want our polished, poised posts; He wants us to desire Him and His ways (Proverbs 3:5-6).

God does not need our halfhearted attempts to acknowledge him; He wants us to truly long for Him, like a deer longs for water (Psalm 42:1).

Unfortunately, we are often too proud to step aside and let Him rule, because we are not broken enough to need Him.

And at the end of the day, our hearts don’t need more influence from the world, but to understand that He is always with us, especially in our brokenness.

We aren’t called to sit on the sidelines. Instead, we are called to weep with those who weep and care for those who are hurting – all while making the daily decision to deny ourselves and follow Him.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
And before you were born I consecrated you;
I have appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).

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