If you think back over the last few encounters you have had, you will have come across people who have had their fair share of hardship. Actually, everyone has.

Rather than thinking life is tough for us all, see that it is always interesting. There is a Japanese art of mending broken pottery with gold called kintsugi. A broken vase is not a useless bit of pottery; it can be restored, pouring golden seals into the cracks, joining all the shattered pieces together.

So, when you meet someone, listen to their story and believe there is a gentle way to redeem it. Never see anyone as hopeless. See them as broken, in need of repair. Not fixing. Not hiding their pain, but seeing who they are, cracks and all.

Being able to see myself as a whole person, not someone who is lacking, is a saving truth. If God was a potter, He is well practiced in the art of kintsugi, in fact I’m pretty sure He was the first to do it.

So don’t look at yourself and only see your pain. Look and see there is a way to make something beautiful out of your broken pieces.