If we are to be honest with ourselves, we would admit that we have made some mistakes during the course of our lives. Some may have been so severe that we never recovered from them. If we would reflect on our past and count the mistakes we have made, the list might be a lengthy one. The one thing we must remember is the fact that once the mistake has been made, in some instances, there is no way to go back and rectify it. What we can do is use our mistakes to strengthen us and open our eyes so that we do not make the same mistakes over and over again. We may also use our mistakes to influence and encourage others not to make the same ones we have made. We attempt to impress upon our children some of the errors of our ways and impress upon them not to do the same because of the consequences.     

Some Christians will give you the impression that they have never made any mistakes and still don’t make any. But if walls could talk and we could hear voices from the past, we would not be so quick to castigate or criticize others when they faulter. Sometimes we need to be reminded that we are imperfect human beings. When we think about some of the mistakes we have made, they probably make us tremble and feel ashamed. As the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:13-14, and I paraphrase, “encouraging believers to forget what is in the past and press forward to what lies ahead.” This suggests that we forget our past mistakes, failures and disappointments and focus on God’s future plans for us.

There are times when we make bad decisions, but rather than accepting the fact that choices were bad ones, we wish to play the blame game. Too often we blunder because we do not take our plans to God in prayer before we act on them. One piece of advice offered in this writing is that we pray for a spirit of discernment. Let today be the day we confess our mistakes and put them behind us and seek God’s guidance and wisdom as we go forward.

It is intriguing to see so many characters in the Bible who made some dreadful mistakes, but God used them to do great things. We may agree that it is not what you have done in the past or who you were in the past, rather who we are today and the kind of life we are living.

Sometimes we make mistakes because we panic. If we were to read Genesis 12 starting with verse 10, we see a very familiar Biblical character, Abram, panic when he went down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner. As he was approaching the border of Egypt, Abram said to his wife Sarai, “Look, you are a very beautiful woman. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, “This is his wife. Let’s kill him, then we can have her. So please tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you.

Read further and notice that there were consequences for Abram’s panic that caused a grave mistake.

There are some good unintentional mistakes that we make. These are mistakes that we make, but we have absolutely pure motives. Have you ever complimented a gentleman on how beautiful his daughter is and find out the young lady is his wife?  

There are also blind spot mistakes. We are blinded to the truth, when we are convinced that we have done the right thing. An example of a blind spot mistake in the Bible can be found in Galatians 2:11-15. Peter finds himself abiding by the Jewish laws when he is in the presence of James and other disciples, but when he is around the Gentiles, he eats their food. Paul confronts him and lets him know that the Jewish laws are the old ways and we must now believe in Jesus Christ who will remove our sins.

Think about it and ask yourself the question, is it possible to go through life without making a mistake? Mistakes are inevitable, but in this day and age, we must be vigilant in making wise decisions. Believe me, the devil is busy and it seems as if there is a spirit out there that is lurking and trying to take advantage of people, young and old. Many of the mistakes we make or made could have been avoided if we would have relied on our heavenly counselor.

Just my thoughts!

Robert Earl Slade, Pastor