Mistakes and success

If you seriously want to be successful in life, you must be careful to minimize your mistakes. The less your mistakes, the more success, happiness, and peace for you in life; the more you can profit from opportunities, and the less regret and pain. Success in this life demands that you make the right moves most of the time, and minimize your mistakes most of the time. Mistakes however will always happen, no matter how cautious you are. And the nature of mistakes makes them extremely dangerous. In fact, one mistake can reverse gains from a thousand right moves. Success, therefore, is not just a matter of carefully minimizing your mistakes; it demands the power to neutralize the negative effects of your mistakes, and actually profit from them.

Everybody makes mistakes, but not everybody is destroyed by their mistakes. Some people actually shine brighter, and rise higher as a result of their mistakes. It is this later group that we celebrate in life. This is why should never write anybody off because they fell. Also, never give up because of your mistakes.

Life is not like a 50 meters dash, where speed matters. It is more like a marathon, where stamina counts more than speed. In life, those that can last always win over those that are just fast.

When you look at them casually, clay and wax appear similar. But pass them through fire and the difference becomes clear. Crisis – mistakes – do not make or mar you; they reveal what you are made of.

If you can put your trust in Jesus Christ rather than in yourself, the mistakes you make in life would not be able to stop your glory.

He is able to keep you from falling

"To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy-"
~Jude 1:24

The above verse does not mean that God will prevent you from making mistakes – from falling. You will definitely make mistakes in life. As a matter of fact the bible states that you will make lots of them.

"for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity."
~Proverbs 24:16

Some people fall several times, yet keep rising and excelling. Others fall and that’s their end. God’s promise to you is that your falls will not be able to destroy your destiny. Regardless of the many mistakes you may make, if you can put your hope in Jesus Christ, God’s purpose for you will still be fulfilled. Your mistakes will never be stronger than the mighty hand of Jesus Christ.

Jesus would never begin what He did not intend to finish

The writer of the book of Acts reveals a profound and encouraging aspect of the nature of Jesus Christ: His teachings came out of His deeds.

"In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach"
~Acts 1:1

Jesus would never teach or ask us to do anything He has not first demonstrated to us. In the verse below, He teaches us to count the cost before embarking on any project. In other words, do not start what you cannot finish.

"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish."
~Luke 14:28-30

If Jesus Christ taught us not start something if we cannot bring it to completion, and if He does what He teaches, we can know with absolute certainty that He would never begin He cannot finish. You and I are His project. His goal is to present us blameless to God. If he were not able to finish it, He would never have started it. Thus, the Apostle Paul writes:

"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
~Philippians 1:6

If He started it…

If Jesus Christ started it – I mean, His project of presenting you blameless to God – He will definitely complete it, regardless of the odds.

In spite of your weaknesses, regardless of who gave birth to you, or where you grew up, if He started it, He will take you to the end. No matter how many times you have tried and failed, and in spite of the myriads of demons assigned to your case, He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.

That old devil might tell you that you are not going to make it. He is deluded. He doesn’t get it yet. Jesus Christ never planned for you and I to make it on our own. He is not depending on us to make it. His plan is to make it for us!

He is able to keep you from falling and to present you blameless before God.