Hearts Rebuilt From Hope

How many of us look in the mirror and struggle to like what we see?

Not just physically—but spiritually. Emotionally. Internally.

In this episode of The Wilderness Devotional, we sit in the uncomfortable reality that many of us spend our lives chasing a version of ourselves that doesn’t even exist. The false self. The idealized projection. The curated persona we show the world while hiding the mess underneath.

We look at a heartbreaking story of a man who was so desperate to become someone else, he physically altered his body to mimic a celebrity—eventually damaging himself in the process. But the truth is… a lot of us do the same thing. Just in quieter ways.

We fill ourselves with things that promise identity but deliver emptiness.We break ourselves trying to become lovable.We leak… because we’ve been patched up with the wrong things.

But Jesus?

Jesus rebuilds.Jesus restores.Jesus makes the broken beautiful again.

Get full access to GoodLion Theology - Aaron Salvato at aaronsalvato.substack.com/subscribe

00:00:02 --> 00:00:07 How many of us look in the mirror and are unhappy with what we see,

00:00:09 --> 00:00:11 unsatisfied with who we are,

00:00:12 --> 00:00:13 our looks,

00:00:14 --> 00:00:15 our abilities,

00:00:15 --> 00:00:16 our personality?

00:00:18 --> 00:00:22 How many of us have an overwhelming sense of emptiness when it

00:00:22 --> 00:00:22 comes to ourself?

00:00:26 --> 00:00:27 Years ago,

00:00:27 --> 00:00:31 I read a tragic story about a man who wanted so much to be like

00:00:31 --> 00:00:34 Kim Kardashian that

00:00:34 --> 00:00:36 he started getting plastic surgery,

00:00:37 --> 00:00:38 lip fillers,

00:00:38 --> 00:00:41 he shaved his head so that he could wear a Kardashian wig,

00:00:42 --> 00:00:45 and it got to the point where he became so addicted to the lip

00:00:45 --> 00:00:45 fillers that his

00:00:46 --> 00:00:50 lips swelled up and burst and started leaking the silicone fillings.

00:00:53 --> 00:00:56 And I just find that story so tragic because here's this guy

00:00:56 --> 00:00:57 who just wants to make

00:00:57 --> 00:00:58 himself happy.

00:00:58 --> 00:00:59 He's looking in the mirror and he says,

00:00:59 --> 00:01:01 I don't like what I see,

00:01:02 --> 00:01:03 but I like how Kim Kardashian looks.

00:01:04 --> 00:01:07 So he becomes obsessed and he goes for it and he thinks it's

00:01:07 --> 00:01:08 going to make him happy.

00:01:09 --> 00:01:11 But what ends up happening is his lips are leaking,

00:01:12 --> 00:01:13 holes are bursting,

00:01:13 --> 00:01:15 and the fluid is leaking out.

00:01:15 --> 00:01:17 And when they interviewed him,

00:01:17 --> 00:01:18 they said,

00:01:18 --> 00:01:18 hey,

00:01:18 --> 00:01:18 man,

00:01:18 --> 00:01:19 you've got holes in your lips.

00:01:20 --> 00:01:21 Like, don't you think that's a problem?

00:01:22 --> 00:01:23 And he responds,

00:01:23 --> 00:01:23 well,

00:01:23 --> 00:01:26 the only problem is when the stuff leaks out,

00:01:26 --> 00:01:28 my lips shrink back down.

00:01:29 --> 00:01:29 And that's not me.

00:01:31 --> 00:01:36 This guy rejected his true self so much that the false self

00:01:36 --> 00:01:37 became his idol.

00:01:38 --> 00:01:41 It became his quest, what he sought after with his life.

00:01:43 --> 00:01:46 Not being the false self to him was the problem.

00:01:51 --> 00:01:52 And I think that honestly,

00:01:53 --> 00:01:54 we can look at this guy and think,

00:01:54 --> 00:01:54 man,

00:01:54 --> 00:01:55 that's crazy.

00:01:56 --> 00:01:57 But in the reality,

00:01:57 --> 00:01:57 in a lot of ways,

00:01:57 --> 00:02:01 we're just the same as this guy because we're unsatisfied.

00:02:01 --> 00:02:03 I mean, think about it.

00:02:03 --> 00:02:07 Are you satisfied with yourself or are you constantly trying to

00:02:07 --> 00:02:08 find ways to

00:02:09 --> 00:02:13 present yourself to the world in an idealized version of yourself?

00:02:14 --> 00:02:17 Wanting people not to see you as you actually are,

00:02:18 --> 00:02:22 but in a fantasy perfect version of who you actually want to be.

00:02:23 --> 00:02:28 But then when we're alone, that's where our insecurities come out.

00:02:28 --> 00:02:30 And we're always looking at someone else going,

00:02:30 --> 00:02:32 if I could just be a little more like them,

00:02:32 --> 00:02:35 if I could just be a little bit cooler,

00:02:36 --> 00:02:38 if I could just dress and act and talk like them,

00:02:38 --> 00:02:40 then my problems would be over.

00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 For many of us, we want to be somebody else.

00:02:44 --> 00:02:45 And we have brokenness in our heart.

00:02:46 --> 00:02:47 We're unsatisfied.

00:02:47 --> 00:02:49 And a lot of times we just fill our hearts with junk.

00:02:50 --> 00:02:52 We fill our hearts with metaphorical silicone.

00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 We fill it with nastiness.

00:02:55 --> 00:02:59 And what happens is we think we're filling our heart with what we want,

00:03:00 --> 00:03:02 but really we're just bursting and breaking our heart and

00:03:02 --> 00:03:03 putting more holes in it.

00:03:04 --> 00:03:06 And we're leaking all over the place.

00:03:11 --> 00:03:13 Jesus wants to rebuild us.

00:03:14 --> 00:03:15 He wants to make us new.

00:03:16 --> 00:03:18 And that's amazing.

00:03:19 --> 00:03:20 Maybe you're listening to this.

00:03:20 --> 00:03:21 Maybe you need to hear this.

00:03:22 --> 00:03:24 Jesus wants to rebuild you and make you new.

00:03:27 --> 00:03:29 Our hearts are often broken.

00:03:30 --> 00:03:34 But I love this quote from the book The River of Winged Dreams.

00:03:35 --> 00:03:36 It goes like this.

00:03:37 --> 00:03:41 Hearts rebuilt from hope resurrect dreams killed by hate.

00:03:42 --> 00:03:42 I love that.

00:03:43 --> 00:03:43 That's so good.

00:03:44 --> 00:03:48 Hearts rebuilt from hope resurrect dreams killed by hate.

00:03:49 --> 00:03:52 So often we deal with self-hatred,

00:03:52 --> 00:03:54 self-loathing,

00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 and it breaks our hearts.

00:03:57 --> 00:04:00 And yet Jesus with his hope can reach down into our brokenness

00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 and rebuild our

00:04:02 --> 00:04:06 hearts and resurrect the dreams that he has for our lives.

00:04:11 --> 00:04:12 We need to remember what the Bible says.

00:04:13 --> 00:04:18 Our enemy roams around like a lion seeking whom he may devour.

00:04:19 --> 00:04:22 He's out to kill, steal, and destroy.

00:04:22 --> 00:04:26 He's out to destroy the dreams that God has for our lives.

00:04:27 --> 00:04:27 Like,

00:04:28 --> 00:04:29 there may be things in your heart,

00:04:30 --> 00:04:31 things that you've never even admitted to anybody,

00:04:31 --> 00:04:33 but things you want to do for the Lord.

00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 Things you want to do to make a difference in the world.

00:04:37 --> 00:04:38 Things you want to do to bless people and love people.

00:04:39 --> 00:04:42 But Satan comes and loves to crush those dreams.

00:04:43 --> 00:04:44 He loves to point to our failures.

00:04:45 --> 00:04:46 He loves to point to our weaknesses.

00:04:47 --> 00:04:50 He likes to point to our shortcomings that you can never be

00:04:50 --> 00:04:51 what God wants you to

00:04:51 --> 00:04:54 be because you're always going to be this.

00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 You're always going to be this way.

00:04:57 --> 00:04:59 You're always going to be messed up.

00:05:03 --> 00:05:07 But God is the God who loves to fix our brokenness and make us

00:05:07 --> 00:05:09 better than we ever

00:05:09 --> 00:05:10 could have been before.

00:05:11 --> 00:05:13 I was reminded of this truth years ago.

00:05:14 --> 00:05:19 I used to work for a company that did a lot of puppetry and we

00:05:19 --> 00:05:19 had this Kermit the

00:05:20 --> 00:05:23 Frog doll and it was battery operated.

00:05:24 --> 00:05:25 And if you pushed his stomach,

00:05:25 --> 00:05:26 he would sing a song,

00:05:27 --> 00:05:29 but he had stopped working.

00:05:29 --> 00:05:32 And so he just sat on the shelf, useless.

00:05:33 --> 00:05:36 Until one day I got inspired and I thought,

00:05:36 --> 00:05:39 what if I can fix this and make it even better than before?

00:05:40 --> 00:05:46 So I got out a hammer and an exacto knife and I started digging

00:05:46 --> 00:05:47 into the back of the doll.

00:05:48 --> 00:05:49 I cut out the voice box,

00:05:50 --> 00:05:51 cut out some of the cotton,

00:05:51 --> 00:05:56 got into the head and started to convert it into not a doll,

00:05:56 --> 00:05:57 but a puppet.

00:05:58 --> 00:06:01 And then I was able to get it sewn back up.

00:06:01 --> 00:06:04 And what we had was now a realistic,

00:06:04 --> 00:06:06 functional Kermit the Frog puppet,

00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 which is way better than a doll sitting on a shelf.

00:06:10 --> 00:06:13 This was now something that we could use to perform for children.

00:06:13 --> 00:06:18 Not to mention that the average Kermit the Frog puppet sells

00:06:18 --> 00:06:21 for around $500 to $800 on eBay.

00:06:21 --> 00:06:25 So we made it a lot more valuable than it was as just a $50 doll.

00:06:28 --> 00:06:29 Now you might be listening and wondering,

00:06:29 --> 00:06:30 okay,

00:06:30 --> 00:06:31 why are we talking about Kermit the Frog?

00:06:32 --> 00:06:33 Here's what I'm talking about.

00:06:33 --> 00:06:36 God likes to take something that's broken and worthless and

00:06:36 --> 00:06:38 doesn't function anymore.

00:06:38 --> 00:06:43 And he likes to renew it and transform it into something wonderful.

00:06:44 --> 00:06:45 And he's skilled.

00:06:45 --> 00:06:46 He knows what he's doing.

00:06:46 --> 00:06:49 He looks at us sometimes and he sees the brokenness and he thinks,

00:06:49 --> 00:06:49 man,

00:06:49 --> 00:06:51 I've got to cut away some of that brokenness.

00:06:52 --> 00:06:53 I've got to get in there.

00:06:53 --> 00:06:54 I've got to remove some things.

00:06:55 --> 00:06:55 But when I'm done,

00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 you're going to be better,

00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 way better than you were before.

00:07:01 --> 00:07:04 He loves to take the broken things and make them new.

00:07:06 --> 00:07:08 I want to encourage you as you're listening,

00:07:09 --> 00:07:10 as you're listening,

00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 if there's any brokenness that you're having today,

00:07:14 --> 00:07:14 maybe you've sinned,

00:07:14 --> 00:07:15 you've messed up,

00:07:16 --> 00:07:17 and you just feel that brokenness in your heart,

00:07:17 --> 00:07:22 you need to know that God loves you and he wants to repair your

00:07:22 --> 00:07:22 broken heart and

00:07:22 --> 00:07:25 restore the dreams that he has for you.

00:07:26 --> 00:07:28 So I want to encourage you, take a moment to pray.

00:07:29 --> 00:07:31 Submit that brokenness to him.

00:07:31 --> 00:07:35 Lay it down at his feet and say, Jesus, I can't do it.

00:07:36 --> 00:07:37 I can't do it without you.

00:07:38 --> 00:07:39 I need you to fix me.

00:07:39 --> 00:07:40 You're the great physician.

00:07:40 --> 00:07:41 I'm sick.

00:07:41 --> 00:07:42 I need your healing.

00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 Glory be to the Father,

00:08:22 --> 00:08:23 and to the Son,

00:08:23 --> 00:08:24 and to the Holy Spirit,

00:08:25 --> 00:08:26 as it was in the beginning,

00:08:27 --> 00:08:27 is now,

00:08:28 --> 00:08:29 and ever shall be,

00:08:29 --> 00:08:30 world without end.

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