Jesus loves you exactly as you are. After all, he made you like that. My father has a saying that he likes to use, “people are cracked clay pots.”

It’s true, everyone is broken in some way. Some people were hurt by a former boyfriend or girlfriend. Some people, like my own father, grew up without the support and love of their own fathers or mothers, and others may be dealing with the hurt that comes from living life in this world.

People are hurt not only by what they have had done to them, but also by the mistakes they have made and the ways that they have wronged other people. I have things that I’ve done to others that haunt me to this day.

We are all just cracked clay pots.

For some people, that’s enough to keep them out of church on Sundays, or to reject Jesus. Some people think that “God couldn’t love a sinner like me” or “I party too much to show my face at church.” Even as a preacher’s son, I’ve thought this when waking up with a massive hangover and a list of stupid things I have done the night prior.

The great news is that Jesus takes us exactly where we are in our lives. He takes us with our malformations and brokenness, and loves us unconditionally.

He just wants to spend time with us, and the best way for us to facilitate that is to go to church – where we can focus on his presence and will for our lives.

Take this time at the beginning of the new school year to look around for a church, or just try it out for the first time. The hardest thing about going to church for people, myself included, is that I don’t feel like I’m worthy of being there in the first place. Truth is I’m not, but the grace given to me allows me to be there.

After all, what better way to mend a cracked clay pot than to go to the potter’s house.

Saul is a junior majoring in journalism.