January 11 2012

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, heck no he knows he can do it. Don't misunderstand me I'm not counseling fool hearty acts. I'm just pointing out that 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 you 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 then? Well they didn't go to school, at least not as we do today. There was no social guidelines on what someone needed to learn to be a success. 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 the first time the young Son of Mary 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", "that he was never going to amount to anything if he keeps turning out work like that"? 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 one 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 at work.  But instead look at our failures as ways God may be teaching us how He wants us to succeed, not how the world wants us.

What "failures" have you had in your life that may have just been mistakes that under God's apprenticeship program are ways He may be using to showing you His ways?

If you fail at one thing does it really mean you are a "total failure"?
End of the Day Review
  
How did you choose to do what is right today, no matter what?
 
 
What were the struggles with accomplishing this and how did this alter your day?