Admitting Our Mistakes

Admitting our mistakes is an important part of our Christian life. God keeps no record of wrongs, so why should we?

During the past week I’ve come to realise life is a journey of learning with plenty of mistakes along the way. Some are more costly than others but we can use them to become wiser. Even in my 40s I’m still making mistakes and know I will make plenty more.

Only the other day I reacted negatively towards a situation and immediately without thinking my earthly ways set in. At the time, I thought that what I was saying was loving but actually in hindsight, (which is a wonderful thing isn’t it)…I was being judgemental.

I didn’t stop to really think if what I was saying was from me or God. Unfortunately, it wasn’t from God. Acting in our earthly ways can lead to trouble. It wasn’t long before I felt the need to pray about what happened when I was gently reminded of the Father’s unconditional love, sowing and reaping of judgements and unforgiveness and how Father God keeps no record of our wrongs, so why should I point out someone else’s.

Admitting our mistakes

It was after praying that I felt God lead me to contact a wonderful, wise Christian friend of mine and asked for advice. Again she lovingly and gently admitted she had fallen for the same mistake and just because we are Christian does not mean we are free from mistakes and sin.

Admitting our mistakes as soon as we can is healthy to put things right quickly, after all we have a loving Heavenly Father who knows our mistakes before we make them and forgives us when we come into His loving arms, letting go of pride, receiving a dose of humble love, admitting when we are wrong and most importantly forgiving ourselves.

We all stumble in many ways (James 3:2) and in 1 Peter 5:6-7 we are instructed to be humble under God’s powerful hand and He will lift us up when the right time comes and we should give all of our worries to Him, because He cares for us.

Father God takes our mistakes and we are encouraged not to let them define us. It’s life and we all make mistakes. No one is perfect except our friend and saviour, Jesus Christ and it’s Him who helps us in the process of letting it go, being honest, owning up and recognising we can learn from life’s ups and downs. That’s what encourages us to become right with God and get back on the best path of life.

The Bible has so much to say about God’s love, forgiveness, casting our cares, admitting our mistakes, showing us that there is no condemnation in Christ and no one is perfect except Christ.

In Psalm 103:8-11 it beautifully says “The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us. He does not punish us for all our sins; He does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For His unfailing love toward those who fear Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.“

 What could be more reassuring than that!

It goes on to say in Hebrews 4:16 that we can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we can receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. No matter what we do wrong, we do not need to let it stop us from moving forward in courage, wisdom and growing in God’s love.

Have you wronged someone and sense that the situation should be resolved? Why not talk it through with Papa God, be honest and let Him lead you. Like my situation, the person may not come back with a recognition of your apology, but the most important thing is to know we have done the right thing and to make sure our hearts are right with God. He will help with the rest and then we can help people to not make the same mistakes as we have.

Also read: Ali Mansfield’s blog on Friendship.