WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES


There is no one on earth who does what is right all the time and never make a mistake (Ecc 7:20)

There is no one who can say that she has never made a mistake. All of us have imperfections, all of us have failed some or other time in our lives. All of us have stumbled and fallen down in some dark time in our lives. All of us have things in our past that we are ashamed of, things that we wish can be erased.  

Today I want you to know that no failure is final. Remember that your faults do not define who you are.  

LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES

I read the following powerful words:  

Failure doesn’t mean you have blown everything. It means you have some hard lessons to learn.
It doesn’t mean you are a permanent loser. It means you aren’t as smart as you thought you were.
It doesn’t mean you should give up. It means you need the Lord to show you the next step.
It doesn’t mean that God has abandoned you. It means that God has a better plan.

GOD SAID IF …

If you never felt pain,
Then how would you know that I’m a Healer?

If you never went through difficulty,
How would you know that I’m a Deliverer?

If you never had a trial,
How could you call yourself an overcomer?

If you never felt sadness,
How would you know that I’m a Comforter?

If you never made a mistake,
How would you know that I’m forgiving?

If you never were in trouble,
How would you know that I will come to your rescue?

If you never were broken,
Then how would you know that I can make you whole?

If you never had a problem,
How would you know that I can solve them?

If you never had any suffering,
Then how would you know what I went through?

If you never went through the fire,
Then how would you become pure?

If I gave you all things,
How would you appreciate them?

If I never corrected you,
How would you know that I love you?

If you had all power,
Then how would you learn to depend on me?

If your life was perfect,
Then what would you need me for?
 

GOD’S PEOPLE MADE MISTAKES

Throughout the Bible we find stories of great men of God who all made some mistakes, for example: 

David: The Bible calls him “A man after God’s own heart”, even though he was guilty of lying, adultery and murder. This doesn’t mean that God was pleased with His sin …  

Why was David then called a man after God’s own heart?

·         Because he repented and found forgiveness.
·
        
Because he learned from his mistakes.
·
        
Because he submitted to God  

Noah: At first we read in Gen 6:9 that Noah was a good man, the ONLY good man of his time; he lived in fellowship with God, and had no faults, he did everything that the Lord commanded. But just a few chapters further on, we see him, lying drunk and naked in his tent! Although he was the “perfect” man, he made a gross mistake.  

Abraham: In Gal 3:17 it is said that Abraham is the father of all the believers, and God said that through Abraham the whole human race will be blessed. What a man! But, even Abraham made some serious mistakes. When it seemed that God was too slow to fulfil His promise of a child to Abraham, he took things into his own hand and decided to sleep with the handmaiden. Later on he lied about Sarah being his wife, he put her on the line only to save his own skin (read about this in Gen 12:10-20)  

Moses: even though Moses spent weeks on end in the Lord’s presence, and was called “the man of God” (Ezra 3:2), “God’s chosen servant” (Ps 106:23) and “God’s friend” (Ex 33:11), he also had his weak moments. He killed an Egyptian when he saw that no one was watching, and he hid the body (Ex 2:12). Another time Moses was disobedient to God and act from anger and impatience when he had hit the rock, instead of spoken to it .. (Read Numbers 20:7-13)

Faults of people are found on display in the pages of the Bible: Samson's vanity, David's lust, Solomon's greed, Jonah's racism, Herod's bloodlust, Thomas' doubts … and more.  

The good news is: As the faults and sins of people fill the pages of the Bible, so does the miraculous, merciful redemption of our Saviour, Jesus Christ!  

But sin didn't, and doesn't, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it's sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. (Rom 5:20)  

Cowards, thieves, liars and prostitutes are forgiven and redeemed, and so are all their past mistakes.

Human failure is overcome by God’s love.
Failure is a powerful word, but forgiveness is even more powerful.  

HELP, I MADE A MISTAKE

Here are a few things that can help us to get up and carry on after we have experienced failure:  

1) GOD UNDERSTANDS
Know that God always understands our imperfections. The Bible says in Ps 103:14” “He knows what we are made of ….  He knows our struggles and  temptations and He has sympathy with our weaknesses.  

Our High Priest is not one who cannot feel sympathy for our weaknesses. On the contrary, we have a High Priest who was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin. (Heb 4:15)  

2) JESUS IS PRAYING FOR YOU
At this very moment Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father, and He is interceding for us; He is praying for me and for you that we will not fail. (see Rom 8:34)  

 “…. I prayed for you that your faith will nor fail” (Luke 22:32)  

3) GET UP, AND TRY AGAIN
If you fail and hit the ground hard, always remember, the only way where you can go is UP. Although we fall again and again, by God’s grace we can keep on getting back up, and keep on looking up to God for help.  

"When someone falls down, doesn't he get back up? If someone misses the road, doesn't he turn back?” (Jer 8:4)  

The Lord’s invitation to get up and turn back to Him is valid for us today: “ … come back to Me. I am merciful and will not be angry; I will not be angry with you forever”. (Jer 3:12)  

4) RECOGNIZE AND CONFESS YOUR MISTAKES
Have you asked God to show you your faults, and have you agreed to stop doing evil?
(Job 34:32)

I recognize my faults; I am always conscious of my sins. (Ps 51:3)  

5) SAY YOU’RE SORRY
If your mistakes harmed or hurt other people – tell them that you are sorry, and ask for their forgiveness.

6) GET ADVICE
Get all the advice you can, and you will succeed; without it you will fail.
(Prov 15:22)  

7) BE WILLING TO BE CORRECTED
Listen to God, to your parents, your friends when they are warning you about your lifestyle, and you can save yourself a lot of tears. Otherwise you can come into a situation where you will say:
"Why would I never learn? Why would I never let anyone correct me? I wouldn't listen to my teachers. I paid no attention to them. And suddenly I found myself publicly disgraced." (Prov 5:12-14)
 

8) KEEP GOD’S WORD AS YOUR GUIDELINE
The only way to keep our lives free from faults, is to faithfully obey God’s instructions for living:

  but I do not fail to obey your laws. (Ps 119:157)

All Scripture is … useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living (2Tim 3:16)  

9) GIVE YOURSELF TO GOD
Never let mistakes rule your life – give yourself to God (Rom 6:13), He will refresh you and  help you to start over again.
 

10) THERE IS FORGIVENESS
Through the blood of Jesus we are made right, washed clean, made holy and perfect.
 

God forgives our failures because of his overflowing kindness. (Eph 1:7)

Our faults defeat us, but You forgive them. (Ps 65:3)

The LORD says, “You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow. Although your stains are deep red, you will be as white as wool.” (Isa 1:18)

11) YOU HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT AS GUIDE AND HELPER
If we listen to the Holy Spirit, He will protect us from mistakes. We all know that “still, small voice” warning us, guiding us away from the wrong things … it is the voice of the Holy Spirit.

If you are guided by the Spirit, you won't obey your selfish desires. (Gal 5:16) 

12) DON’T WASTE YOUR FAILURES: LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES
God specializes in restoring and reusing failures! So the best thing that you can do with your failures, is to run into the arms of Jesus. You see ... failure becomes your friend when your failures drive you to God! When this is the outcome of your mistakes, you have not wasted your failures!

PRAYER

May the God who gives us peace make you holy in every way and keep your whole being---spirit, soul, and body---free from every fault at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you will do it, because He is faithful. (1Thes 5:23, 24)
 

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