So did you watch “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” this past Christmas? (Do they still show the claymation version each year?)

If so, did you feel a certain kinship with Rudolph as he set out to embrace the uniqueness of his bright red nose? And did you feel some deep-seated empathy for the residents of the Island of Misfit Toys, the train with the clumsy square wheels, or the Jack-in-the-box whose  name was Charlie?

You should have because you and I could be right there with them, lamenting our own levels of brokenness.

We’ve all been damaged during the journey of our lives, and we’re all still in process. We are works of art that are still becoming who we were created to be, and it can be very helpful in our processing to remember that our brokenness stems from three potential sources: sin, wounding, or Satan (and sometimes a vicious combination of all three).

• We’ve been hurt by our sin when we’ve lived in ways that conflicted with God’s plan for us.
• We’ve been hurt by others who did the same thing, and caught us in the crossfire.
• And we’ve been hurt by spiritual warfare that landed on our vulnerabilities and threatened to destroy our faith.

But do you know what’s amazing? In The Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus prescribed the antidote for all three. He urged us to pray on a daily basis for:

• Forgiveness…the cleansing and erasure of our sins.
• The strength and will to forgive…so that the damage caused to us by others will lessen and fall away.
• Rescue from spiritual temptation and attack…so we can live spiritually victorious lives.

I think that’s pretty awesome! I think it’s amazing that in one simple, concise prayer, Jesus gave us the keys to severing the three deepest roots of our human brokenness (and built a bridge to Misfit Island).