Kintsukuroi (golden repair) is the Japanese art of repairing damaged pottery with gold or silver lacquer. If you take a few minutes and search the internet you will find countless examples of kintsukuroi. In fact, if you want to give it a try, simply drop your favorite coffee cup and then order a kintsukuroi kit. In no time your coffee stained mug will be turned into a piece of coffee drinking art! However, kintsukuroi is more then just an art form, it's also a way of thinking about life. As a philosophy, kintsukuroi celebrates imperfection as an integral part of our story. The artists believe that when something has suffered damage and has a history, it becomes more beautiful. As we enter into a New Year, how are you feeling about a new you? We all have these broken pieces in our lives and every New Year just reminds us that nothing is really going to change. Others of you may currently be feeling like a shattered plate spread all across the dining room floor. The last thing on your mind is being made new, especially when you can't even pull yourself together? Does kintsukuroi even happen for people with broken lives?

The apostle Paul writes to the church in Corinth, a collection of Christians feeling this sense of brokenness, and he states this fact:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17

Allegiance to Jesus puts us back together...makes us new! It's not our strength, discipline or hard work which puts us together, it's the power of God working in our lives. A few verses earlier the apostle writes:

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." ~ 2 Corinthians 4:7

It appears God has his own form of kintsukuroi, where He takes the broken pieces of our lives and uses the power of Jesus to make us new again. If you would like to learn more about how this can happen in your life, give a listen to New Year. New You?