Failure

"We all stumble in many ways."James 3:2

We all know the story. Peter, the bold and fiery disciple, pledged to be with Jesus and die for him. (Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake." John 13:37). During the first trial before Annas Peter denied knowing Jesus and during the second trial before Caiaphas Peter denied him two more times. In John 21 after his resurrection, Christ asks Peter three times, "Do you love me?" Christ was reaching out to bring an obviously heartbroken Peter back into the fold. Peter got over his failure and went on to fulfill his destiny in Christ and become the "rock" of the church that Christ had predicted he would become.

How often do we let our failures in life define who we are? How often do we let our past failures continue to haunt us and chain us to our past? Satan wants to keep us bound up and feeling guilty, but Christ came to free us from condemnation. If we remain chained to our past failures, we cannot be useful to Christ in the present. We need to know the truth that we all will stumble, but Christ is there to pick us up, forgive us (he already has), and set us back on the path of righteousness in Christ. We need to remember Paul's words, "one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13b-14). We need to not let our past make us feel guilty and prevent us from working for the kingdom of God.

Mike McMahon

"The church of Jesus Christ is a fellowship of forgiven failures." - Jon Bloom

Prayer Power

Lord, please help us to forgive ourselves as you have already forgiven us. Help us to not be chained to our past but know the reality of the future we have with you. Amen