--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Whether it's a Christian or a…" description: "\"Whether it's a Christian or a non-Christian, there's nothing like suffering to show us how small, needy, and not in control we are. Suffering has a way..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88f/tullian-tchividjian-1105_broken_whether-it-s-a-christian-or-a-non-christ_2255820.png" --- # Whether it's a Christian or a non-Christian, there's… ![“Whether it's a Christian or a non-Christian, there's nothing like suffering to show us how small, needy, and not in control we are. Suffering has a way of sobering us up to the realization that we can't make it on our own, that we need help, that we're broken.” quote by Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88f/tullian-tchividjian-1105_broken_whether-it-s-a-christian-or-a-non-christ_2255820.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88f/tullian-tchividjian-1105_broken_whether-it-s-a-christian-or-a-non-christ_2255820.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88f/tullian-tchividjian-1105_broken_whether-it-s-a-christian-or-a-non-christ_2255820.png) > “Whether it's a Christian or a non-Christian, there's nothing like suffering to show us how small, needy, and not in control we are. Suffering has a way of sobering us up to the realization that we can't make it on our own, that we need help, that we're broken.” [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Suffering reveals our dependence and humility, reminding us we cannot manage alone. **In simple terms:** Suffering shows we need help. Key Takeaway Accept help and seek community. Themes humility dependence spiritual growth Mood reflective somber Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal crisis - health challenges - loss - addiction recovery Key Concepts existential vulnerability interdependence Questions to Reflect On - How can we transform suffering into growth? - What support systems help during hardship? A Different Perspective Suffering can also cause despair and alienation if not processed health. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Christian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christian/) [Realization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realization/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [There's nothing like suffering to reveal how small and needy you are. Pain has the remarkable capacity to reveal the weakness of the things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/there-s-nothing-like-suffering-to-reveal-how-small-and-needy-you-are/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [A season of suffering is a small assignment when compared to the reward. Rather than begrudge your problem, explore it. Ponder it. And most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/a-season-of-suffering-is-a-small-assignment-when-compared-to-the/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [Our wishes are our most reliable mirror, and the black-and-white movies I'm most drawn to are about artists who suffer because art is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/our-wishes-are-our-most-reliable-mirror-and-the-black-and-white/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) > [Indeed, there is nothing like suffering to remind us how much we need God. What good news that His purpose and plan for our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/indeed-there-is-nothing-like-suffering-to-remind-us-how-much-we-need/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [God wants to free us from ourselves, and there's nothing like suffering to show us that we need something bigger than our abilities and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/god-wants-to-free-us-from-ourselves-and-there-s-nothing-like/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [There's nothing like suffering to remind us how not in control we actually are, how little power we ultimately have, and how much we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/there-s-nothing-like-suffering-to-remind-us-how-not-in-control-we/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [“I think it is a part of growing up, learning to control our suffering.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-david-roberts/i-think-it-is-a-part-of-growing-up-learning-to-control-our-suffering/) [Gregory David Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-david-roberts/) > [“Buddha said , “All under another’s control is suffering, all under one’s own authority is pleasing; what’s shared is stressful for both parties, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-shitalkumar-r-sukhdeve/buddha-said-all-under-another-s-control-is-suffering-all-under-one-s/) Dr. Shitalkumar R. Sukhdeve > [“There is an element of control we have over suffering.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-david-roberts/there-is-an-element-of-control-we-have-over-suffering/) [Gregory David Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-david-roberts/) > [I think that it is a part of growing up, learning to control our suffering. I think that when we grow up, and learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-david-roberts/i-think-that-it-is-a-part-of-growing-up-learning-to-control-our/) [Gregory David Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-david-roberts/) > [“I thought you liked suffering and death. I mean... you always look like suffering and death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richie-tankersley-cusick/i-thought-you-liked-suffering-and-death-i-mean-you-always-look-like/) [Richie Tankersley Cusick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richie-tankersley-cusick/) > [Time sped. And the poet through sorrow Became like his suffering kind. Again he toiled over his poems To lighten the grief of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/time-sped-and-the-poet-through-sorrow-became-like-his-suffering-kind/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [“My hopes were all dead --- struck with a subtle doom, such as, in one night, fell on all the first-born in the land…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/my-hopes-were-all-dead-struck-with-a-subtle-doom-such-as-in-one-night/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“It is essential that you follow your own idea of passion, even if to others it looks like suffering.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/it-is-essential-that-you-follow-your-own-idea-of-passion-even-if-to/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [“Maybe love, like suffering, is relative. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/maybe-love-like-suffering-is-relative/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) ## More by Tullian Tchividjian > [Grace is upside-down, to-do-list wrecking, scandalous and way-too free. It's one-way love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/grace-is-upside-down-to-do-list-wrecking-scandalous-and-way-too-free/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [“There is but one good,” C. S. Lewis writes in The Great Divorce; “that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/there-is-but-one-good-c-s-lewis-writes-in-the-great-divorce-that-is/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [Once God saves us He doesn't move us beyond the gospel, but He moves us more deeply into the gospel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/once-god-saves-us-he-doesn-t-move-us-beyond-the-gospel-but-he-moves/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [“An institution theoretically devoted to providing comfort to those in need (the church) is in trouble because it has embraced the same pressure cooker…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/an-institution-theoretically-devoted-to-providing-comfort-to-those-in/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [A preacher who doesn't believe he's that bad will attract people who don't think they're that bad. And that's bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/a-preacher-who-doesn-t-believe-he-s-that-bad-will-attract-people-who/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [Our assurance is anchored in the love and grace of God expressed in the glorious exchange: our sin for His righteousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/our-assurance-is-anchored-in-the-love-and-grace-of-god-expressed-in/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [I think for far too long the Church has concluded that Christians don't need the gospel, it's simple what non-Christian people need in order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/i-think-for-far-too-long-the-church-has-concluded-that-christians-don/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [While our sin reaches far, God's grace reaches farther. God came after us not to strip away our freedom but to strip away our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/while-our-sin-reaches-far-god-s-grace-reaches-farther-god-came-after/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [Jesus has done everything for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/jesus-has-done-everything-for-you/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [If you have suffered the loss of a family member to chronic disease, if you suffer debilitating seasons of depression, if you have lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/if-you-have-suffered-the-loss-of-a-family-member-to-chronic-disease/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [Sanctification consists of the daily realization that in Christ we have died, and in Christ we have been raised.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/sanctification-consists-of-the-daily-realization-that-in-christ-we/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [The ironic thing about legalism is that it not only doesn't make people work harder, it makes them give up. Moralism doesn't produce morality;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/the-ironic-thing-about-legalism-is-that-it-not-only-doesn-t-make/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [The good news of suffering is that it brings us to the end of ourselves - a purpose it has certainly served in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/the-good-news-of-suffering-is-that-it-brings-us-to-the-end-of/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [The Gospel is not ultimately a defense from pain, it is the message of God's rescue through pain. 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I think that you really ought to listen to the critics, because sometimes they're telling you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-worst-advice-don-t-listen-to-the-critics-i-think-that-you-really/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Marriage is a desperate thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-selden/marriage-is-a-desperate-thing/) [John Selden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-selden/) > [The child who ran weeping to you with a cut finger is now brought home, smiling gamely, with a broken collarbone and incredible contusions-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-brown/the-child-who-ran-weeping-to-you-with-a-cut-finger-is-now-brought/) [Pam Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-brown/) > [There is no pain like the first time you get your heart broken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ne-yo/there-is-no-pain-like-the-first-time-you-get-your-heart-broken/) [Ne-Yo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ne-yo/) > [Broken china lasts longer than unbroken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-renard/broken-china-lasts-longer-than-unbroken/) [Jules Renard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-renard/) > [My life was incoherent to me. I felt it quivering, spitting out broken teeth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/my-life-was-incoherent-to-me-i-felt-it-quivering-spitting-out-broken/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [Don't fix what's not broken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-atkins/don-t-fix-what-s-not-broken/) [Robert Atkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-atkins/) > [“ving self and others is an every second of every day of every week, of every month, of every year gift that should not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanjo-jendayi/ving-self-and-others-is-an-every-second-of-every-day-of-every-week-of/) [Sanjo Jendayi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanjo-jendayi/) > [Your head's like mine, like all our heads; big enough to contain every god and devil there ever was. 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