Failure helps us grow

The life that God would have for us requires obedience to His ways. Obedience is more than simply adhering to specific commands, but rather a way of life that will bring you good fruit and good success. Obedience therefore, is for our own good. Life works better if it belongs to God. The more you surrender your life to His authority and care, the more you are living life as He has designed. For some, making Christ Lord of your life is a clear and defined decision. For others, it is a gradual process of increasingly surrendering your life to Him. Either way, spiritual growth leads you towards making God the center and purpose of your life.

Growth is a process and we sin and fail in many ways. God has taken this into consideration in His growth plan for us. God uses our failures to help restore, grow and mature us. Even though seemingly unfair to some, the reality is we are going to fail and because it is our free will and choice to do so, it is our fault. Sin and immaturity cause us to miss the mark of God’s standard for life. Several spiritual growth approaches try to resolve this dilemma. Some may believe we do not have to fail. We can always be victorious in Jesus by truly making Him Lord of our lives. This approach concludes the person who fails has not totally surrendered themselves to God. It is reasonable to say that this sometimes can be the case, but the reasoning here denies the reality that we are sinners throughout life (see Romans 7:15-19). Supporters to this school of thought do not fully accept that the struggle with sin is a part of the human experience. Another group teaches that the presence of sin is a sign of spiritual immaturity: it is not a surrender issue, but a growth issue. The reasoning here is the more you grow, the less you sin. Therefore the mature person does not sin a lot. While we are always learning and growing, and that we should become more righteous as we mature, the Bible teaches that personal sin will always be present, as in the case of the chief of sinners, the very mature apostle Paul himself (see 1Timothy 1:15). Still yet another group tries to resolve this dilemma by addressing the nature of failure itself. They admit failure happens but that the failure isn’t so bad and that the sin and mistakes are not significant. This is a weak view of sin (see Romans 6:23). A similar teaching believes that though we fail, it really isn’t our fault. Instead of taking responsibility for one’s own sin, the blame goes to those who have taught us and made us who we are: our parents, hurtful relationships, society, the Devil, or even God Himself. Yet we often fail simply because we choose to, and we are ultimately accountable for our decisions and choices (see 2Corithians 5:10).

The Bible’s teaching is much stricter than the approaches above. The reality is we fail, we have a problem we cannot solve, and that we are held accountable. However, the good news is that this dilemma leads us straight into the arms of Jesus. His death is the redemption of our sin and weaknesses. Throughout life we learn to strengthen our faith in His love and forgiveness without resorting to our own efforts. In this sense, our failures bear fruit in a deeper walk with Him. “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf; be reconciled to God. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2Cornthians 5:20-21). We need to be aware of all failure when it arises, and be in a safe place to address it.