Dear Pastor,
Life and ministry can be really, really hard. There are expectations, obligations, emergencies, obstacles, opportunities and more! And as we seek to navigate through all of this and yet remain faithful to God and to our calling, we make mistakes. We make mistakes of judgment, we make mistakes of stewardship, we make mistakes of speech. I’m not talking about sin here, just about mistakes stemming from our limited knowledge and mistakes that occur when we get in a hurry, overcommit, or just plain forget. Our mistakes often hurt people and possibly even seem to hurt our ministry. But the question is, do you give yourself grace when you mess up? Do you forgive yourself? Or do you agree with the devil, beat yourself up and live under a fog/weight of condemnation?
God offers us grace and mercy. He even offers grace upon grace. He forgives, cleanses, heals and delivers. His mercies are new every morning. He says to us that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And yet even though God says He can and will forgive (and when we ask Him to we receive that forgiving, redeeming grace in our lives) so why is it sometimes so hard to forgive ourselves?
Whether you forgot something, or overpromised and under-delivered, whether your mistake cost money, time, energy or resources for yourself, someone else or even the ministry you are in, are you will to forgive yourself, offer grace and try again? There is freedom in forgiveness and with grace comes the opportunity to try again, so I encourage you: cut yourself some slack. Stop expecting perfection from yourself. Don’t beat yourself up and never agree with the condemnation or accusations of the enemy. Instead receive God’s grace, offer that grace to others (including yourself) and then walk in the peace and freedom that grace is able to redeem all of the messes we seem so adept at making.
After all, remember: Jesus makes all things new! And that includes what we messed up.
Christ is with us, Christ is in us!
Mike J
Pastor Michael Johnson 