Ingredients for an Anointed LifeSample

Ingredient 5. Olive Oil - Brokenness

The final ingredient was olive oil. The only way oil is retrieved from the olive is by crushing it, which is why anointing always requires brokenness.

Brokenness sounds like something we want to avoid, but we need to remember that pressure releases God’s power. The device used to extract the oil was called an olive press. Once the olives were mature they would be placed in a stone mill where they would then be crushed, and it was in the breaking that the oil was released.

That’s why we need to recognize that pressure is an opportunity for anointing to be released in our lives.

But that’s not the only kind of brokenness that matters. Brokenness is another word for repentance.

In the book of 2nd Samuel, we learn that David sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheba. However, after being confronted by Nathan the prophet he says these words, "The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God."

We often think of broken things as despised or worthless, but when we repent, God can take what has been broken and remake it into something better.

Brokenness brings a blessing. Consider how God sent Jesus into the world. He was without sin, but He was broken so that we can be healed. It was through the breaking that we received the blessing. That’s why brokenness is an ingredient for the anointing. Because a repentant heart is an open vessel for God’s Spirit to fill.

Questions for reflection.

Have you ever considered that the pressure you want to avoid might be an opportunity for God's anointing to flow in your life? Have you ever thought of brokenness as repentance? Why or why not? Where in your life do you need God's anointing to flow? Will it require leaning into pressure or repentance?