WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU MESS UP?

Everybody messes up, makes mistakes, does something he or she is not proud of. So what are we supposed to do about it?

Job 5:7   Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.

My Jr. High School wood shop teacher frequently used the expression, “I may not be right but I am never been wrong.” Well that was one teacher who lied every time he said that. Everybody messes up, makes mistakes, does something he or she is not proud of.

Just think for  a minute, it won’t take you long to remember the last mistake you made, the last careless error, the last bone headed stupid thing that come out of your mouth. What is disturbing is that culturally, we have found ways of slighting the consequences of our mistakes. The expression, “OK, my bad” is good in that one takes the blame but most often that’s as far as it goes. Hopefully it was something easily fixed and the one who made the mistake took of it quickly, like fixing a typo or putting something back where it belongs. More often than not, however, people do all they can to PASS THE BUCK, to deny culpability. Pride makes sure to convince all that it was someone else’s fault.

 

Prov.16:18   Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall. (NLT)

The laws of physics show us that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Concerning the words and action of people, there are consequences for everything. Sometimes those consequences are good, sometimes not so good, sometimes pretty bad and sometimes horrible. It’s easy to MAN UP when the consequences are good, men crave that pat on the back. But so often I hear people trying to rationalize their fault when something doesn’t turn out right, when they made a mistake.

Human nature is all too predictable. The pattern of behavior thus far described started just after God put Adam and Eve in the beautiful, and easy to maintain, Garden of Eden. I have no doubt you have heard some great, and perhaps some not so great, sermons about what happened. When they messed up Adam tried to pass the buck to Eve who in turn tried to pass the buck to the serpent. The problem with this is that they were all guilty and the Lord let them all know it. Mankind, and all the rest of creation, is still dealing with the consequences of what those three did, and it is not very pretty. So much for a “no sweat” everything’s right there way of life.

So what should we do when we mess up? I am convinced that God laid out all the “how to’s” for how His creation is supposed to be. It is our responsibility to, by His grace and power, follow that plan. It will lead to life and great long term resolutions of the consequences of our words and actions. If you are just “looking out for number one” (yourself) your pride will rule and deal with it as mentioned before and Proverbs 16:8 makes clear the eventual consequences to good old number one. As hard as it may seem, we really need to:

1.   Man Up and confess your fault.

2.    Accept responsibility for the consequences

3.   Experience Godly sorrow for with it you receive the ability to do what the last sentence of this verse says,

2 Cor. 7:11   Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves, such indignation, such alarm,… such zeal, and   . You showed that you have done everything necessary to make things right.

4.   Seek God for the power to change, for the power to become what God created you to be.

2 Cor.5:17   Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.(KJV)

Mark 1:17   Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become...(NLT)

Phil.2:12   … work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Acts 1:8   But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses,

If you have tried to change , to consistently do what is right, to become more like Jesus, by using your own will power than I am certain you have experienced frustration, I sure have.

Mark 10:27…   Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”

I have a confession to make, I am tired of making the same mistakes over and over again. I am also tired of hearing people say, “OK, my bad” and then going on as if nothing happened and nothing needs to change going forward. It is time we learn to apprehend the grace of God and accept His power to change, His grace to do everything necessary to make things right. He will provide every dollar, every ounce of strength, every bit of intestinal fortitude we ever need to accomplish anything He leads us to do. 

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