352 – Letting Go of Mistakes

#faithbites #faithjourney mistakes

Working in a college is invigorating for me. I love to see how students develop, grow, and where they go in life. In medical school, there is a testing scenario where you are evaluated on your clinical skills. Basically you go to a room, read a scenario, go in and interact with a “patient”. After one station, a student was talking to me saying they didn’t they did good on it. After a couple more stations, the person was still thinking about it. I talked to them and say, be like Elsa and Let It Go. That door is closed. If you made a mistake, you can fix it. If not, then it’s ok. It’s one mistake over a course of a large test.

The more I think of the forgiveness of sins, the more I think about situations like this. If I don’t let it go and keep on worrying about every mistake I’ve ever made, I’d be paralyzed. Jesus forgives all of our sins, we need to forgive ourselves and accept his forgiveness.

Scripture

• If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9
• He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. – Colossians 1:13-14
• Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. – Ephesians 4:31-32

Reflection

Christians believe that Jesus died for our sins. He makes us white as snow and bridges the divide between mankind and God. If we believe it so much, as the verses about show, why can’t we forgive ourselves.

There are times in my life, when I rehash stupid mistakes I made years ago. I know I have been forgiven by God for them, but I can’t forgive myself. Just like taking a test and knowing that you could have done better or if you just had one more chance, it would be better.

In life, we don’t get a do over when we make mistakes, but we do get forgiveness. The hardest part is forgiving yourself.

There are very few things in life that if you make a mistake that you can’t make up for in the future. If we were all perfect at everything we tried the first time, what joy would there be in life. How would we see our progression?

I for one, try to look at my mistakes as a place to grow. I’m not there all the time as I get mad at myself, but I’m trying.

We need to look at those mistakes as forgiven by God and forgive ourselves.

Charge

Can you forgive yourself for your trespasses as he forgives our trespasses? Think of a time in your past that you keep reliving because you made a mistake. Try to accept that was in the past, you made a mistake, and you were forgiven. You can’t change what happened then, but you can use that to grow in the future.

Lord, help me to be strong enough to forgive myself. Let me stop reliving those moments when I think I messed up. Allow your Grace and love to be enough for me when I make mistakes.