It would be devastating if my kids grew up knowing only the good things their dad accomplished in life, and if they thought my expectations for them were to live every minute of their lives based only on my good deeds, skills or talents. They would be crushed if they ever failed. I want them to know what they didn’t see when I failed miserably and only came out of it by the grace of God.
As they get older and are able to understand, I will be committed to being open and honest with them. I want them to know my mistakes so that they will have the opportunity to avoid them. I also want them to know of my mistakes because they will make their own, and I don’t ever want them to think that they were the first in the family to fail.
I want to be able to sit with my children and share some of the things I have done, not to glorify sin, not to justify it, not to say, “It’s ok, everybody fails,” rather, because I’m not proud of it and because I don’t want them to feel unique. Most of all, I want them to know that by the grace of God, He brought me through it and out of it, and He can do the same for them.
Being called by God, as the under shepherd of the church, it is so important to teach this lesson to God’s children. The world, the devil, and the flesh remind us daily of our failures, but God’s Word reminds us of His love, grace and mercy towards us. Share your failures so that others might know He is a Way Maker of life. Encourage others with these words.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
