Broken Hearts

During Sunday School a few days ago I illustrated a point by mentioning (in a very unclear & possibly careless manner) that parents are able to help their teenagers gain perspectives on a broken heart because we have been there and seen that in the broad scheme of life these broken hearts are not as bad as they seem at the time. Because I did not share my thoughts clearly, I wanted to share some of my thoughts on experiencing a broken heart...

1. Broken hearts hurt. As we go through life there are many times where our hearts will be broken. The occasion might be the death of someone close to us, the death of a relationship, the loss of a job or genuine disappointment in life itself.
2. God cares about our broken hearts and desires to heal us. Therefore, we should comfort those around us who are brokenhearted. The fact that Jesus died on the cross means that our failures (or the failures of relationships, jobs, etc.) are not fatal and we must be hopegivers, reminding people (including ourselves) that the Gospel is true.
3. Broken hearts take time to heal. We must allow ourselves time to grieve over the pains that cause our hearts to break. We must remember, though, that it is God who heals our hearts. He may use other relationships, other jobs, etc. but ultimately we must trust that God will heal our broken hearts.
4. Every relationship we go into may ultimately result in our hearts being broken, but we must trust that God will protect us and that if we are hurt, that our pain will not be fatal.

Finally, we should point people to the Gospel as the only hope for broken hearts. The Gospel is true and it offers rescue from a broken world (and broken hearts) through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.