Mistakes

We all stumble in many ways.  If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check (James 3:2)

1.         We all make mistakes

You reversed your car and backed right into a pillar.  You sliced the meat and cut your hand.  You trusted in your friend and she played you out.  Which of us have not stumbled in our actions and words?  To us, some mistakes are minor but some are serious.  How then should we respond to mistakes?

The first thing we need to do is believe what the Bible says in James 3:2 that we all make mistakes.  God understands that we are not perfect.  The problem with us is that we expect ourselves and others to be perfect.  If God doesn’t have the expectation that we are never at fault, then we should learn to ease up and not be too hard on ourselves and others.

2.         Get up again

Some of you may feel that it will be very difficult to recover from your mistakes because they are so serious.  That however is not the way the Bible looks at mistakes.  Jeremiah 8:4, the Bible reminds us that when a person falls down, he gets up again.  Don’t allow your past mistakes to spoil your present and future enjoyment of life.  There is no point wallowing in your past mistakes.  The Lord reminded Jeremiah to get up from where he had fallen.  We too should heed the Lord’s advice and get up again.  Like Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:9, we can be knocked down but we are never knocked out.

3.         Repent and learn from your mistakes

We should bring our mistakes to the Lord.  Repent of your mistakes before Him.  To repent means “to change your mind”.  Change the way you acted or talked which caused the mistakes.  Admit to the Lord that you were wrong -that is called confession (1 John 1:9).  Where possible, admit to the person you had wronged.  In some situations in which nobody was hurt, learn from what went wrong.  For all mistakes, learn from them as they are God’s lessons for your life (Psalm 119:71).

4.         God’s future for you includes your mistake

Some of you may think that your mistakes were costly.  They had caused a blemish on your record.  Someone was  hurt and had to bear the scars of your mistakes.  You fear that when your mistakes are made public, you will be ashamed to face people.  You feel that your mistake has spoilt your future.

Again, that’s not how the Lord thinks.  Although mistakes have consequences, they don’t determine your future.  The Bible says that it is God who determines your future (Jeremiah 29:11).  God’s future for you is good and it includes your mistakes.  For example, God’s future for Moses included his mistake in killing an Egyptian (Genesis 2:12).  God’s future for Paul included his mistake in persecuting Christians (1 Timothy 1:13).

5.         God will rebuild your life

God’s future for Bathsheba was gracious enough to accommodate her mistake in committing adultery with David (Matthew 1:6).  There are many other godly men and women who had made serious mistake.  Yet God in His grace helped them overcome their mistakes and rebuild their lives. 

Will God not do the same for you?  He will rebuild what went wrong (Jeremiah 31:4).  You never lose when God is on your side.  Your God specialises in reconstructing broken lives.  Won’t He also restore yours also?