Failing does not make you a failure. We all fail, make mistakes, fall short and miss the mark. We’ve all made poor choices and given into temptation. No matter how many times we’ve failed, God will never look at us as failures and is always waiting to restore us.

Take Peter, for instance. His pride led him to proclaim that even if every other disciple deserted Jesus, he never would. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” (Matthew 26:33-35). He even wielded his sword to protect Jesus when they came to arrest Him.

Yet before the night was over, Peter gave into fear and denied that he knew Jesus three times, as Jesus had earlier stated. When he realized his great failure, Peter humbled himself and went away, weeping bitterly. Failure can cut through our pride and show us our need for God.

But Jesus didn’t leave Peter in this fallen state. After His resurrection, Jesus met some of the disciples on a beach and restored Peter into fellowship and commissioned him. Peter became a leader in the early church, and with his powerful preaching, thousands were added to the church.

Even though failure feels like the end, it can actually be a new beginning. Thomas Edison said that he failed his way to success. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” He noted that the light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps. His perseverance through his failures led him to finally succeed.

Albert Einstein said, “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” Henry Ford said, “There is no failure except failure to serve one’s purpose.” Many times it is the very failures on our first attempts that can lead us to our purpose.

The book I published this year was actually written over ten years ago. The first publisher I sent it to liked it, but did not publish it because I didn’t have ways to promote it. This failure led to my book living silently in my computer for many years, until the Lord said the time is now. I used those waiting years to improve my writing skills and after much editing, it was ready. 

If we’re willing to seek the Lord about our failures, He will show us there is purpose in them. We can learn many things from our mistakes that can take us much further than we’d go without those lessons.

Some get stuck in their failures and believe they are less than or not worth loving. How can we get beyond failure? We can take our example from the apostle Paul. The key is to let go of the past and move forward. He tells us in Philippians 3:13-14, “I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on.”

Paul was a great man of God who wrote much of the New Testament. What did he have to let go of? Paul started out as the Pharisee Saul who persecuted the new believers in Christ and had them arrested and killed. That was quite a past to get beyond. But with the Lord’s help, he was able to leave his failures behind and fulfill the purpose God had for him.

Failure isn’t the end. God is willing to forgive us as we confess our sins and He will help us to move forward.

Hope Ministries is a Christian counseling center, and we are here to help. If you would like to speak confidentially with someone, give us a call at 845-482-5300.