“Never let the sense of failure corrupt your new action” – Oswald Chambers.
How we handle failure says a lot about our belief system. Did Jesus, in fact, take care of all our sin on the cross? If so, why do we circle the drain and continue to spiral downward when we fail?
I get real hard on myself when I mess up. The reality of living this side of heaven written about in Scripture, though, is that I will. So if that happens, I have two choices. I can continue to spiral downward, which only brings despair and possible depression, or I can believe what Jesus did by faith and get up and walk with Him in the current moment.
One athlete put it this way, “It isn’t the last play that defines me, it’s what lies ahead that does.” It wasn’t that missed catch that ruined his day, but the focusing on that failure to miss the opportunity to catch the next ball thrown his way that would. He had to put the failed play out of his mind so he could focus on the current one.
We can either focus on past failures, which may have occurred only seconds before, or on the present opportunity to walk with Jesus.
Express your love for Jesus by getting up after any failure in order to walk with Him. As you do, you’ll enjoy the next opportunity He has for you. It’s what lies ahead that counts – Him, not what you did in the past.