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Nobody likes to fail, right?
But what if the way you respond to failure actually reveals something important about who, and how, you are?
Here are three questions to chew over...
1. Are you living by an illusion?
Do you believe you must be perfect, never fail, or always have it together?
Sorry friend, but life is not that kind, and you - and I - are not that good.
Leaders must be real. Vulnerability builds trust.
Let people see that you're human, which includes how you handle failure as well as success.
Proverbs 28:13 (The Msg): “You can’t whitewash your sins and get by with it; you find mercy by admitting and leaving them.”
2. Are you building your identity on success?
If your self-worth is tied to perfection, results, or people-pleasing, it's going to be very fragile. When failure inevitably comes, your whole sense of identity can be shaken.
Matthew 7:26-27 (The Msg): “If you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life… when a storm rolled in… it collapsed like a house of cards.”
It’s good to pursue success and achievement, but let your identity be anchored in what God says about you - you are His beloved, no matter what happens.
3. Are you only inspired by success?
Then you're living in unreality! Growth comes from stepping into the unknown and embracing failure. Failure is the price of progress. We always learn more from our failures than our successes, provided we're willing to do the hard work of reflection and application.
C.S. Lewis: “Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.”
Failure is a signpost - a teacher, a coach, a stepping stone toward who you are called to become. Embrace it, learn from it, and let it stretch you.
So let’s create - and model - cultures where it’s okay to fail, remembering that Jesus himself shows us extraordinary grace in the face of our mistakes.
God knows you will sometimes fail, and He loves you and invests in you anyway.
Remember, the night when Jesus was about to be arrested, he says to Simon Peter (Luke 22:32): “I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
Notice this: Jesus knows Simon Peter is about to fail. Interestingly, He doesn’t pray that Peter won’t fail. Jesus prays that Peter's faith won’t fail, and that when he does fall, he will get up again and strengthen the team.
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