October 4 2011

Why Fear Failure?

Reading: Romans 8:14-15, 14For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"

Why do we fear failure? When was the last time you saw a young boy jumping out of a tree house afraid of failing? He knows he can do it. Worrying is a learned response. In today's world we learn early on that failing is a bad thing. From Kindergarten on, we either pass or "fail", we get an 'A' or an 'F'. Even as adults we get an annual evaluation, someone else's judgment of how we are doing in your job. But is this the way God intended it to be?

Teddy Roosevelt was quoted as saying "the only man that does not make a mistake is the man that does nothing". Thomas Edison when ask stated "I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 ways that it did not work".

In Jesus' day how did they learn? They didn't go to schools like today. Jesus worked under his father in a sort of apprenticeship program. I'm sure that as he grew up he had many mistakes, but they were not looked at as failures. I can see it now, when Jesus made his first wooden chair, maybe a little wobbly because one of the legs was a little short. Did his father tell him what a failure he was or that he was never going to amount to anything? No, I'm sure he just patiently showed him how to shorten the other three legs. In the bible we see that all of the greats, Moses, David, and Peter all failed at a time in their life. Did their heavenly Father brand them a complete failure? No, He patiently showed them how to succeed in his way. Maybe we should not be so worried about making the grade or being the big success, rather, look at our failures as God teaching us how to succeed, and not by the world’s standards.

What mistakes/"failures" have you had in your life or recently?


How can you use those mistakes/ “failures” under God's apprenticeship program to learn to be a success today?
End of the Day Review

How were you able to turn past mistakes/ “failures” from the past into learning experiences today?

How did it impact you today?