For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again.
— Proverbs 24:16a
And hearing this, Jesus *said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
— Mark 2:17
First, everyone fails. So the aforementioned question is silly, really. Even so, I hope you get my point. To be blunt, people who think they never fail have already proven themselves to be utter failures, for they are extremely arrogant. In many ways, one of the greatest things we can ever do is learn how to fail. Of course, said education begins with admitting failure and ends with learning from our mistakes.
Without humility, the value of failure is lost.
Only a humble person realizes that they are what they are by the grace of God, as the Apostle Paul would say (1 Corinthians 15:10). Anything good in them translates into gratitude to the One who gave it to them.
When it comes to failure, perspective is everything!
For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
— 1 Corinthians 4:7
An arrogant person either never admits when they fail or, possibly even worse, attributes their ability to get back up as a result of their own human strength. The saddest thing about this is that, in essence, they have already rejected God’s grace. The greatest manifestation of this folly is with salvation, of course. An arrogant person will always posture themselves as self-righteous enough as they are. And if they believe that Heaven exists, they will say that they are good enough on their own to gain entrance. They could not be further from the truth.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
— Romans 5:1-5
As Paul wrote, we believers are to “exult in our tribulations.” To some, this is a strange thing to say. But, to us believers it is the very means of our sanctification. For the Bible tells us that God uses testing to sanctify us. And by the way, how many of us can actually say we’ve passed every test the first time around??? Laughable, right? In fact, most of us, if we’re being totally honest, will admit to being really slow learners. It often takes years before we learn our lessons and begin enjoying the fruit of God’s sanctification.
But back to my main point here…
If failure isn’t an option, then neither is sanctification.
We are failures without God. An arrogant person may disagree, but that is precisely why they may very well spend eternity in Hell.
Learn to embrace the idea of failure, for it is certainly a part of God’s plan for your life. Get used to failing. Heck, take a few risks, knowing you’ll likely fail. For example, try to evangelize someone and see what happens. You may get dirt kicked in your face, but you’ll, undoubtedly, grow as a result. Dust yourself off and learn from the experience. Stay humble and pray that God soon puts you back out into His field again to sow a seed or two.
I’ve never met an honest evangelist that wasn’t a failure. Nobody besides Jesus Christ has ever presented the Gospel flawlessly every time. We fail as evangelists all the time. Should that stop us from trying? May it never be!
My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For, behold, those who are far from You will perish;
You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You.
But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
That I may tell of all Your works.
— Psalms 73:26-28
Love in Christ,
Ed Collins
