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Failure Is Only An Event

"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin."¹

Richard Halverson in Pulpit Helps asked the question: "Who hasn't failed? The Apostle Paul failed, Peter failed, every one of the twelve apostles failed. David, Israel's greatest king, 'a man after God's own heart,' failed. Moses, giant among the Israelites, giver of the law, deliverer of his people, failed. Jacob, father of Israel, failed. Isaac, son of promise, failed. Abraham, progenitor of Israel, father of the faithful, prototype of those who are righteous through faith, failed. Even our first parents, in their human perfection, failed. Who hasn't failed?

"It is not failing that is the problem; it is what one does after he has failed. To take failure as final is to be a failure. To see, in failure, the school of [God's] Spirit is to let failure contribute to one's growth in Christ."

When we fail, the important thing is to get up, confess it to God and, where necessary, to the person whom we have hurt and ask for their forgiveness. Then we need to forgive ourselves as God forgives us, and learn from the experience. Failure is only an event. It doesn't define who we are in Christ.


Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please forgive me for where I have failed. Thank you that you use every situation in my life to teach me. Give me a teachable spirit and the determination to get up and try again. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus name."

1. Psalm 51:1-2 (NIV).

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