My husband and I are big do-it-yourself people. If there’s a project to be done, we’re going to figure out how to do it. Along the way, we’ve made some pretty big mistakes.
Like that one time, we installed 30ish fence posts with cement, only to find out we measured wrong. We had to dig up each fence post, re-dig the new holes, refill the old ones, and set the posts in concrete again, before reinstalling our new fence. If we had a dollar each time a neighbor asked us why we were taking out our new fence, we could have paid to have someone install it.
It was a big mistake that took a lot of time and energy to correct, but it taught us a lot about do-it-yourself projects. Which the thing about mistakes or accidents: we all make them, and there’s a lesson tucked in there somewhere.
Sometimes the mistake is very fixable. However, sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it has consequences that reach far beyond a few cemented fence posts. Sometimes it doesn’t just affect us either; it affects others or our relationships.
BUT there’s grace for every mistake. We tell our kiddos all the time “Everyone makes mistakes…” and it’s true. We all mess up, fail, or fall short but our response is where the rebound is. Here’s what you need to remember when you make a mistake:
EVERYONE makes mistakes. It’s not just you (or me). Paul wrote “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
It’s when we fail that we need to remember that Christ died for us, for this very reason because we all fall short. In Romans 5:8, Paul wrote, “But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Because of Christ, we know and should preach to ourselves daily that “... [there is] no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, because the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Romans 8:1). When we live in that space, it doesn’t matter what our mistakes are, as long as we have a truly repentant heart. The enemy wants us to believe that we’re living on the last chance, in shame but that’s a lie. We have to know God's Word and the depth of God’s love and mercy for us to be able to learn from those mistakes and to turn towards God in all circumstances. Paul explained it as this: “For I am persuaded that not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, height or depth, or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord! (Romans 8:38-39). Why? “Because of the LORD’S faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!” (Lamentations 3:22-23).
Friends, this is where we cement our hope. Even though we all fall short and mess up from time to time, God’s got us. Let’s posture our heart’s in true repentance and cement His words in our minds, not the mistakes that we make. In doing so, we can move through the next mistake instead of staying stuck.
Have a great week, friends!
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