Surely Jesus Removes All Shame From the Broken

I was reading Elder Karl D Hirst's talk "God's Favourite" from October General Conference, and I was highlighting passages and writing down thoughts, not casually, but just moving along through the talk, when I read a sentence that stopped me in my tracks: "Surely Jesus removes all shame from the broken."

Have you ever felt broken? Like your brain or your body or your spirit just don't work the way they are supposed to? I have. And while I have never been personally told that I am broken or unworthy or less than because of my struggles, I know people with similar struggles have been told that. And sometimes I feel that if they are, surely I am too. But, "through His brokenness, He became perfect, and He can make us perfect in spite of our brokenness. Broken, lonely, torn, and bruised He was-and we may feel we are-but separated from God we are not." "Surely Jesus removes all shame from the broken."

Many examples come to mind. 

The woman with an issue of blood: "And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue (power or strength) had gone out of him, turned him about in the press... And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague."

The woman taken in adultery: "When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more."

Healing a leper: "And, behold, there came a leper and worshiped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed." This one is interesting because leprosy was known to be very contagious, and spread through contact. Lepers were required to not enter towns or crowds, and always ring a bell when they approached so people could stay away. They were shunned by society. The fact that Jesus first touched the man, and then said that he was healed, proves that surely Jesus removes all shame from the broken.

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Ether 12:27 "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

Elder Hirst said "...perhaps you feel a long way from the love of God. Maybe there is a chorus of voices of discouragement and darkness that weighs into your thoughts, messages telling you that you are too wounded and confused, too weak and overlooked, too different or disoriented to warrant heavenly love in any real way. If you hear those ideas, then please hear this: those voices are just wrong. We can confidently disregard brokenness in any way disqualifying us from heavenly love—every time we sing the hymn that reminds us that our beloved and flawless Savior chose to be “bruised, broken, [and] torn for us,” every time we take broken bread. Surely Jesus removes all shame from the broken. Through His brokenness, He became perfect, and He can make us perfect in spite of our brokenness. Broken, lonely, torn, and bruised He was—and we may feel we are—but separated from the love of God we are not. “Broken people, perfect love,” as the song goes.

You might know something secret about yourself that makes you feel unlovable. However right you might be about what you know about yourself, you are wrong to think that you have put yourself beyond the reach of God’s love. We are sometimes cruel and impatient toward ourselves in ways that we could never imagine being toward anyone else. There is much for us to do in this life, but self-loathing and shameful self-condemnation are not on that list. However misshapen we might feel we are, His arms are not shortened. No. They are always long enough to “[reach our] reaching” and embrace each one of us."