Mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes in life. Fact. The only perfect being is Jesus. The ethos I encourage in my classroom is that making mistakes is good, because that’s how we learn. It’s very rare we get things right the first time around. As my class will tell you, ‘practise makes perfect’. Mistakes are expected but it can be hard to move past them when we feel we have messed up big time.

Just because you have made mistakes in the past, are making them now and will continue doing so in the future, does not mean you should feel guilty or burdened by them. Sometimes we make the wrong choices. This does not mean we are a bad person – it shows we are merely human. We are not defined by our mistakes. We are defined by God, who loves us regardless.

“O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.”

Psalm 86:5

Your mistakes have the power to turn you into something better than you were before. One of the biggest transformations of this concept can be seen in Acts 9: When Saul became Paul.

Saul was a ruthless crusader intent on stopping the growth of Christianity at any cost, by putting Christians in prison, destroying churches and even overseeing their murders. That is until God revealed Himself to Saul on the road to Damascus, where his life was forever changed and transformed.

“But the Lord said,” Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to King’s, as well as the people of Israel.”

Acts 9:15

God chose Saul despite all the wrong doings he had done. God used him greatly for His purpose. Through the story of Saul/Paul we get a glimpse of how amazing God truly is. Lamentations 3:22-23, sums up the promises of God’s endless love, mercy and grace for us all! If God could forgive a man like Saul, then all your mistakes are too forgiven. Nothing that has happened in your past can prevent you from having a relationship with God. He can transform you into someone better, just as He did with Saul, who became known as Paul the Aposlte, someone who dedicated his life to spreading the gospel. Mistakes give us lessons to learn from, not life sentences to serve.

We have all fallen short of God’s glory, and we slip up daily. We’ve all made mistakes that we regret, which we need to give to God and let go. Some of us make the same mistakes over and over again. It’s normal to feel angry at yourself for doing so, but I believe if you are reading this now, it is because you want to learn from your mistakes – that’s what really matters. You can’t go back and fix what you’ve done, but you can place your trust in Jesus Christ. Ask for His forgiveness and pray for Him to strengthen and guide you, to teach you to make better choices. I want you to remember that making mistakes is just part of being human – we all do it. It’s what you do about it. If we are aware of our sins and confess them to God, He will forgive us. Nothing we do can separate us from Him.

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever seperate us from God’s love”.

Romans 8:38

Consider David, a so-called ‘man after God’s own heart’, who is known for achieving great things. Yet, David had a history of making mistakes. In fact, he broke half of the commandments – those of which include murder, lying, adultery, coveting a neighbour’s wife and even stealing another man’s wife. Even though his sins were many, he turned to God, repented and was forgiven.

God can turn your mistakes into something greater. He loves you unconditionally. Find comfort in the knowledge that you are not defined by your mistakes but by God. Seek more of Him and learn from the choices you made. Be prepared as God changes you into something better than you were before. Remember making mistakes is a good thing; it’s how we learn and grow!

God Bless! 🙂