Learning From Your Mistakes

Learning From Your Mistakes                                                        April 24, 2022

“Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’  And Nathan said to David, ‘The Lord also has taken away your sin, you shall not die.  However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die'” (II Samuel 12:1314)

“for all (Jew & Gentile) have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23)

“Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)

Not all the mistakes we make in our life are sinful but every sin we commit is a mistake because of its consequences and the fact that it is an act of disobedience before God. 

Such was the case when King David committed adultery with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba.  As a result of this action she became pregnant.  So David made another mistake by trying to get Uriah, who served him in battle, to go home and be with his wife.  When Uriah refused to go home because of his loyalty to his king and fellow soldiers David got him drunk thinking he would then go home and be with his wife.  But again Uriah refused to go home.  So David had him placed in the front line of the fiercest battle against the enemy so that he would be killed.  Yes, Uriah was killed because of David’s plan to cover up his sinful mistake.  Read II Samuel 11 for all the details of the mistakes of David and the death of Uriah. 

How do you deal with your sinful mistakes?  Like David, do you commit another sin to cover up the first?  David got himself into such a mess and even when Uriah was killed he was still in a mess.  Others may not have known of the sinful mistakes he had made but God did.  No one can ever conceal their sins from God and they will eventually have to give an account of them to Him.  All of us have made sinful mistakes and are in need of God’s forgiveness.

Fortunately for David God forgave him of his sins when he confessed them.  His sinful mistakes were forgiven and forgotten by God.  However, he had to reap the consequences of those sinful mistakes and so do we with our sins.  Sins can be forgiven but the consequences will remain.

One thing that helped the apostle Paul deal with the sinful mistakes of his past was to forget them by looking forward to what lies ahead and by being busy in the present time that God had given to him.  Yes, the chief of sinners, as Paul regarded himself, was so busy for the Lord and longed to reach his heavenly reward.  We’d be wise to do the same.  Paul knew that God had forgiven him of his past mistakes and had given him a living hope for the future.  Do you know how to be forgiven of your sins?  If not, please email us for God’s truth on how to be forgiven of all of your past sins (oscofc50@gmail.com).

Do you have such a hope?  Have you learned enough from your mistakes to never want to repeat them again?  David did and so did Paul.  How about you?

Brian Thompson