[If you haven’t made mistakes, you haven’t been growing with God. Learn to overcome mistakes & renew your passion to grow into Christian maturity!]
Philosopher Alain de Bottonsays, “Anyone who isn’t embarrassed of who they were last year probably isn’t learning enough.”
I would modify the quote to say, “Anyone who isn’t embarrassed of who they were last year probably isn’t learning & growing with God enough.”
Wow! Shocker, I know.
I admit “embarrassed” is a strong word, but you should be able to look at last year’s self and say, “Wow, I sure have changed and grown over the year.”
If you cannot say that, just maybe you are stuck somewhere in your personal and spiritual growth.
Change can be difficult to attempt. And maybe you have given up.
However, not one of us was born mature in our personhood. Not one of us was born with all knowledge. Not one of us was born with perfect relationships.
We were born into a process of growth and maturity—in all areas.
This may sound hard. But, dear one, we were created to learn and grow in all things, in all areas–especially spiritual growth. So, don’t give up!
The Process
In order to learn and grow we have to be willing to embrace the difficult, and we may even make mistakes.
I want to talk a minute about mistakes. It is a grand thing to make a mistake! Awesome, in fact!
Because if you make a mistake, it means you are in the race. You are trying. You are learning. You are growing. You are going forward. You have courage. You are developing patience and discipline. You are changing old habits into better ones.
And mistakes have a purpose in our lives. God is bigger than our mistakes. He knows we are but inept humans in need of a perfect God! He knows we are born in sin with a corrupted nature. He desires that we overcome our mistakes!
His greatest desire is that we turn to Him for help with our struggles.
This was Eve’s greatest mistake in the Garden of Eden. She looked to the serpent instead of God to fulfill her desires (more on this in my upcoming book, Return to Eden).
Jacob’s Mistakes
Learning and growing into a mature Christian is a process. We learn with God’s help through our mistakes and struggles.
Remember when Isaac was old and about to die? When he told Esau to get his favorite meal ready, because he was going to pronounce the oldest-son blessing before he died?
In those days, the oldest son got the prophetic blessing and a double portion of the inheritance—the first son rights. The oldest son would inherit the position as head of the family, and the prophetic blessing would place him in special covenant with God.
However, most of you know what happened. (If you are unfamiliar with this family drama, it begins in Genesis 27.)
You know how Jacob “bought” the birthright from Esau for a bowl of soup then stole the blessing His father was planning to give Esau.
Why would God allow such a thing? How could God even seem to endorse Jacob being sneaky about the blessing and birth right? How could Jacob do this? And what does this have to do with your struggles?
God allowed the whole sneaky deal for several reasons (and more my limited understanding is unaware of, but this is a good start).
God’s Grand Design
First, God was working out the promise He made to Abraham to make his descendants as numerous as the sands of the sea and stars in the sky. Sometimes we make things all about us, when God has a larger and much grander design.
He is working through circumstances in our lives—even when we do not see or understand. God had been working this plan through Abraham’s descendants for generations. He is working on a plan through the generations in your family too!
To Grow Strong in Faith
Second, God had a larger plan to build a nation of faith. A nation of faith must be built on faith. Throughout Jacob’s life struggles, God would purify Jacob’s passion into a strong resilient, persistent, and solid faith.
This whole life we live “for” God, is really “for” us. Throughout our life God leads us through many things to grow stronger in faith, trust, and intimacy with Him—even when our corrupted selfish sin-nature gets in the way. God desires for you grow strong in your faith in Him, even through mistakes and struggles.
To Grow Strong & Overcome Mistakes
Third, humans are not born perfect. Sometimes we get into a heap of mess, and Jacob got himself into a heap of mess with his family. However, in and through the mess, God confronted Jacob’s greatest fears, weaknesses, and ungodly tendencies.
If you keep reading the story, Jacob was confronted with his own weakness over and over again. In the struggle to overcome, he did not stop pursuing God. He wrestled in faith until he finally gained victory.
God Loves Passion
Fourth, God loved Jacob’s passionate heart. Jacob was passionate for God; Esau was not. Jacob loved spiritual things; Esau despised spiritual things. Jacob continually turned to God for help; Esau trusted in his own skills and abilities.
God is thrilled when we are passionate toward Him—even if we make mistakes.
I am sure later in life Jacob was embarrassed of his former self. But nothing stopped him from pursuing more of God.
The Extreme Christian
You have heard of extreme sports. The Apostle Paul exemplified the extreme zealot for God—and he made plenty of mistakes.[1]
Not one of us is born perfect or mature. We all begin somewhere. We all make mistakes of all kinds.
If we have not made any mistakes, then we haven’t been growing.
We have a Bible full of people who made drastic mistakes! Yet, they continued on and were even praised as heroes of the faith.[2]
The Apostle Paul was certainly embarrassed of his former self, but he did not let anything keep him from pursuing more of Christ.
Sure, we all have failed in many ways, but our mistakes are not all of who we are.
Your mistakes do not define you as a person. You are much more than your past mistakes. You are a much-loved child of the Eternal King.
Paul would say to us today, “Do not let the past hinder you! Go forward! You have been washed, sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and have been given the empowering Spirit of our God.[3]
If you love God and are passionate toward Him, He will not let you stay in your mistakes.
He will come to you and pull you up into all the wondrous things He has planned for you!
God worked miraculously in Jacob’s life and in Paul’s life, and He will work miraculously in your life!
When you get victory over your situation, your growth will be more wonderful than any trouble you went through! The perfecting of your faith is more precious than gold!
Action Steps
Take a moment to talk to God seriously from your heart.
If you are embarrassed by your last-year’s self, talk to Him about that. Ask Him to help you to understand the lessons of last season, and then determine to reach forth to the new things He has for you! Stay in the race! You are developing courage and faith eternally more valuable than gold! God is with you! Go forward!
If you are not embarrassed by your last-year’s self, ask God to help you renew your passion. Fervently ask God to teach you more about Himself. Determine to stir up your passion for Him. Decide to do some new things to pursue your passion for Him, to learn more, to grow more. You have to take the initiative. Growing is not instant or magic; it’s a process. The Holy Spirit will help you—not do it for you. Your internal growth is more valuable to God than anything else! You can do this thing! God is for you! He is with you!
My Prayer for You
Dear Lord God of the universe, oh Mighty One,
I ask that you stir my friends who read this little article. I ask that you supernaturally heal their wounds and soothe the scratches of living in this corrupted and ungodly world.
Strengthen their resolve to follow You no matter where it leads or what it costs.
Bless them with your presence as they determine to leave the past behind and press forward toward the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus![4]
Bless them with your empowering grace and peace! Bless them with amazing spiritual growth beyond their imagination. Amen.
Beloved of God, thank you for reading.
Abundant Grace and Blessings Be Yours,
drcynthiaj
New Resource
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Reference Notes:
- Acts 7. ↑
- Hebrews 11. ↑
- 1 Cor 6:11. ↑
- Phil 3:13-14. ↑
Photo by Farid Askerov on Unsplash
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