FAILURE. Lack of success. The omission of expected or required action. The action or state of not functioning.
The world defines failure as all of the things above, but how does God view what we perceive as failure? After all, he created us and knows our weaknesses. He knew that we would be unable to succeed in everything and do what is required of us at all times, because we are humans that are incomplete, fallible, and imperfect.
Religious perfection, as a human goal, is a trap where we unknowingly turn ourselves into a god in our own minds. By trying to do things perfectly while remaining sinless, we are taking our eyes off of the one who is love, grace and truth and instead focusing entirely on the works that we do. The harder we try to be perfect in God’s eyes, the farther we get from his loving embrace and an intimate relationship with him.
We will fail, because it’s inevitable in our human condition of a propensity to sin. But God cares about how we respond when we fail. We often become discouraged that we couldn’t do what we wanted to do, and then we mentally beat ourselves up, right? As we mentally shame ourselves, we try to punish ourselves, discard ourselves as being unsalvageable and lose hope that we will ever be good enough. Often, even the most devout Christians, when faced with the discouragement of perceived failure, will struggle to do the “right thing” in God’s eyes, and they will choose to sin further because wrong has already been done that will need to be accounted for.
Imagine being on a diet. The discouragement felt when we fail to eat what we were supposed to eat or avoid what is not allowed can often cause behaviors that throw everything out the window and cause more damage than if some grace were included in the diet plan. Maybe as Christians, we would do better perceiving that we are following a diet of moral and ethical living, and that we have access to “Grace Cards” when we slip up a commit a sin. We don’t know how many there are, but every time we ask for one, it is given without question or judgement. I like to think that the more grace cards that are not used because of my choices to live rightly in God’s eyes, the greater my reward will be in heaven. But I also am pretty sure that the stack will never run out, at least I hope that they don’t, because so many sins happen without even being aware because of bad habits that we don’t even realize are sinful. When we become aware, though, we have no excuses but to try to right align our behaviors with God’s instructions for us. (Shout out of gratitude for the conviction and guidance of Holy Spirit!)
Confession, as a religious practice, is an easy way for Satan to interfere with our faith and trust in God. If we think we need to bring our sins in front of the priest anyway in a confessional booth, then we’re likely to sin more after we have made the first slip-up. After all, if we’re already feeling ashamed of this one sin, why not just throw a few more sins out there and get it over with since we have to be embarrassed to talk to the priest and feel ashamed already?
Satan quickly traps us into forgetting that God knows all things and that he sent Jesus to tear the curtain and to be our High Priest so we can take every single infraction directly to God himself. If we view confession rightly, we understand that it is acknowledging that we are guilty of doing something wrong, and that letting Jesus help us fight temptations and heal the areas which caused us to slip up in the first place works much better if we take it to God right away by confessing our sins to him. There is no shame, embarrassment, or penance to be served because Jesus took it all upon himself so that we would not have to bear the burden of sin. God already knows where we have sinned and wants us to be convicted of it so we change our ways and follow him instead, because he knows that if we live rightly and in relationship with him, we will be FILLED WITH JOY AND PEACE.
To my Catholic brothers and sisters, I understand that stepping into a confessional booth is a foundational part of your religious upbringing, and I am not trying to create a division among believers because I see how God is working in people across traditional denominations and through followers of Holy Spirit and The Way to unite us as one body for the Kingdom. I have been called to raise a warning, though, of what Satan has been doing for generations to separate us from having a relationship with our Heavenly Father. We cannot earn or work our way into heaven, we are only able to enter through Jesus Christ himself. God sees our hearts and knows all about us, and he is not a rules-based God but rather a God based on love, truth and grace, which is why he sent Jesus to earth to die and be raised again.
With a desire to be righteous, which means being “right” in God’s eyes, we can easily understand that following the ten commandments is a big part of it. But have you ever realized that getting discouraged and viewing ourselves as a failure is also a sin? We are being prideful when we beat ourselves up mentally for failing to accomplish perfection, and pride is a sin. We are also showing God that we don’t appreciate who he made us to be, and that we don’t trust him to reveal himself through us in spite of our imperfections. God makes no mistakes, so have you ever thought that he made you with certain shortcomings so that he could draw others close to himself through you? If we are turning all of our focus to our own skills, talents, and abilities, then we are deliberately choosing not to trust that God can do anything he wants to do through us.
God created you just as you are, and no matter how good you think you are, how bad you think you are, how right you think you are, or how wrong you think you are, GOD IS STILL GOD. Nothing will hold him back, and he will never give up on you. Take the time to rewrite all that you thought you knew about God before it’s too late, because all will face judgement day, and each one will be held responsible for how they lived this life.
FAILURE (REWRITTEN AS GOD SEES IT): An opportunity for God’s glory to be revealed. Expected by God in humans selfishly operating under their own strength. The action of failing to trust that God never fails us.
So, if you find yourself feeling discouraged, don’t let Satan trick you into falling into old patterns of unhealthy coping mechanisms. Instead, when you feel discouraged, remember that even the righteous will fail, but God knew that would happen and he provided us a way out.
For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, But the wicked stumble in time of disaster and collapse. – Proverbs 24:16 AMP
How can we rise again after falling into a sin trap? JESUS.
Who do we turn to when we feel discouraged? JESUS.
Who do we confess to and ask for help to overcome Satan’s temptations and traps? JESUS.
Who is our only way out, provided by our Heavenly Father because he loves us? JESUS.
You were made in the image of God, and all who trust in him and believe walk this earth with the power of God within us. Therefore, you cannot fail as long as you trust God with every aspect of your life. Nothing is too big for him, and he created you with a mighty purpose. No one is exactly like you, and he can work through you in amazing ways if you let him have full access to your entire being.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” – John 14:6-7 NIV