LEARNING FROM OUR MISTAKES

“A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance.”  – Proverbs 28:13 (TLB).

To help avoid future financial mistakes, such as those in 1929 and 2008 that brought down the world’s economy, the Library of Mistakes was founded in Edinburgh, Scotland. It features a collection of more than two thousand books that are designed to educate the next generation of economists. The curators believe that learning from prior mistakes is the only way to build a strong economy.

Mistakes are inevitable. There’s no sugar-coating or sidestepping it; they’re inescapable. In life, if there’s one thing that is certain, apart from death and taxes, it’s that no matter how hard you try or how noble your intentions may be, you’re going to make mistakes.

Have you made a king-sized blunder or two? Of course, you have. But here’s the big question: have you used your mistakes as stumbling blocks or stepping stones? The answer to this question will impact every aspect of your life. Past mistakes should not hold you back. Because even if you’ve made a colossal blunder, God isn’t finished with you yet—in fact, He’s probably just getting started.

There is no success without making mistakes. If you’re not making any mistakes, you’re not growing. It would help if you learned that it’s okay to make mistakes and fail as long as you take that failure and gain wisdom from it.

Learning from our mistakes means that valuable lessons can be found even in our moments of error and missteps. Making mistakes allows us to avoid a wall and move to another path. The Bible says in Proverbs 28:13 (TLB), “A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance.” In other words, we get a fresh start.

If we allow God to clean up our mistakes, messes, and mishaps, He will use every bit of it for our good. If we let Him, God will use the results of our mistakes as the foundation upon which He can build a new life.

Sometimes, mistakes tell us that we must move forward in a new direction. We must listen and, more importantly, keep walking, doing, and moving forward.

Your mistakes do not define you. God defines you, and He loves you no matter what. “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love” (Romans 8:38).

Discussion Questions: 

1. How have you seen God turn your mistakes into good? How have you seen him do that in the lives of others?
2. If you know that God can use anything for good, how does that help you let go of the mistakes of your past?