Do you ever make mistakes? Hopefully, you answered yes! While we would probably like to live mistake-free, it’s not a reality for anyone on earth. The Bible says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Therefore, we have all fallen short of God’s standards. Apparently, we have fallen short more than a little bit, because it also says, “we all stumble in many ways” (James 3:2a). Clearly, we need to do better to be better, but how?
Psalm 37:23 teaches us that “the steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way.” If we delight in God’s way (and He delights in ours), then God will give us direction. This may happen more than we realize, as Proverbs 20:24 indicates: “A man’s steps are from the Lord; how then can man understand his way?” Proverbs 16:9 describes this process by saying that “the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” While God directs our steps, he doesn’t force them, which means that we still sin and fall short. Even when we do though, we “shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds [our] hand” (Psalm 37:24).
Besides God’s intervention in our direction, He also gives us wisdom about situations that could cause us to make mistakes. Proverbs 22:3 say that “the prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.” Sometimes we ignore the warning signs about a situation and instead of avoiding it, we make the mistake that we knew could come. Instead, we should ask for wisdom in what to do (James 1:5), which helps us in making decisions and acting appropriately when temptation comes.
God uses various ways to let us know when we’ve made mistakes and need to improve, such as His word, people, circumstances, and our conscience. His correction isn’t a sign that He dislikes us, but a sign that He loves us. In Revelation 3:19, God says that “those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” We have options when we’re corrected, and of course God wants us to admit our faults and decide not to continue in them (James 5:16-20).
While God is merciful and probably more forgiving that we are, we can “receive the grace of God in vain” (2 Corinthians 6:1b) and “fall from grace” (Galatians 5:4b). This happens when Christians continually ignore correction and don’t turn back to Him. A sobering warning is given in Proverbs 29:1, where it says that “he who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing.” God gives grace, but he doesn’t let ungodly people take advantage of it (2 Peter 2:9). We need to be zealous in turning back to Him!
While we should learn from our mistakes, we shouldn’t beat ourselves up once we’ve repented (2 Corinthians 7:8-10). Philippians 3:12-14 describes this process in Paul’s life, where he wrote that: “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Once we’ve learned from our mistakes, let’s not focus on them and instead focus on the great mission and reward that God has for us!
