Broken Cisterns

God used his prophet, Jeremiah, as a means of expressing His problems with the Israelites. Jeremiah 2:13 identifies God’s problem with the Israelites.  His people had left Him, the living water, and gone after broken cisterns which could hold no water. A cistern is a man-made container, usually hewn out of stone.  Cisterns were often used to hold water.  Today, many people within the church still struggle with this problem.  Recently, SFT has added the concept of broken cisterns to the training.  This is taught towards the end of training and addresses an individual’s damaged belief systems.  In order to identify what areas are damaged, it is important to determine where a person draws his self-worth from.  People often get self-worth from things like approval, achievement, love, and perfection.  In fact, people’s self-worth can come from many different areas of life.   Ultimately, all of the different categories can be broken down into two subcategories: significance and security. Generally, men strive for self-worth out of a desire for significance while women often seek it for security reasons.  Regardless of the avenue self-worth travels, the source is what matters.  In my own life I used to strive for self-worth through achievement.  When I was achieving, I was content.  When I failed, I was overcome by despair and depression.  The same is true for a person who strives for self-worth in any other area.  A person who gets worth from approval is only content as long as he or she is receiving validation from others.  A person who gets worth from love only feels happy as long as he or she is in a relationship, regardless of the quality of the relationship. In the end there is only one place that a person can get consistent, constant self-worth, and that is through God.  The reason why many people can never seem to find satisfaction and peace is because they search for worth in worldly, broken cisterns which hold no water.  Only God can provide the emotional needs and fulfillment people thirst for. If you have been through SFT training and are interested in identifying and addressing your broken cisterns, please contact us.  When a person’s worth is put in worldly things, it will always be inconsistent.