My Greatest Mistakes

MY GREATEST MISTAKES

April 6, 2008

The other day I was praying in my office. I began my prayer by telling God how I sorry I was for some areas I felt I had failed in & was asking for His forgiveness & help in those areas.

In my mind & prayer I began to list AREAS OF FAILURE in my life & began to realize the MISTAKES I’d made in these areas. Now, please don’t get me wrong, I’m not listing those things I’ve already asked for forgiveness of, those are dead, gone & forgiven.

I mean those THINGS I STRUGGLE WITH! I don’t know about you but if I were to write down all the mistakes of my life there wouldn’t be enough paper in the world or time in a year to do it.

In my mind, I mean to do the right thing but I don’t always accomplish the right thing. I think most of us are like that! I don’t think that anybody wakes up in the morning w/the intention of failing!

ALL CHRISTIANS ARE LIKE THAT! THERE ARE NO “PERFECT” CHRISTIANS! There was one & only one perfect man, the perfect Christian & we all know was JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF! He was the only perfect man to have ever walked the face of the earth in all history.

But of all my MISTAKES there are a few that stand out! They are the most poignant in my life because they have affected me & still do effect me to this day.

I could mention many of them but most of them have anything to do with you nor would have the effect on you that I desire this discourse to have! But there are a few that I’d & would consider my “GREATEST MISTAKES!”

These are those that affect me on a daily basis! These are those that I deal with on an ongoing basis! These are those that I believe WILL AFFECT YOU AS THEY AFFECT ME!

These are the ones that I believe MANY IF NOT MOST CHRISTIANS deal with in their lives on a daily basis as well! These are those that if we were to overcome the flesh on, not only would our lives be better, not only our families would be better, but our Church would be better in a GREATER WAY THAN WE COULD EVER IMAGINE! I know! You’re thinking, “Hey! I could imagine quite a bit for our church right now!”

So could I but I realize it’s not going to happen my way! It has to happen “HIS WAY!” IT IS “HIS WAY” OR “NO WAY” AT ALL! THAT “IS” HIS WILL IN OUR LIVES & OUR CHURCH! CHANGING OUR “CHURCH NAME” WILL NOT FIX EVERYTHING BUT “CHANGING OUR MISTAKES” WILL MAKE A GREATER IMPACT THAN WE MIGHT REALIZE!

Do you ever find in your life the desire to do something well, something good but not seem to be able to do it? You have good intentions but you just always seem to fail at it, no matter how hard you try to you just seem to not be able to.

Paul struggled with the very same thing. I know, you’re thinking, “PAUL? THE GREAT MAN OF GOD?” Yea! Paul, the same one! He did! He had struggles just like you & me! That is one of the beautiful things about God’s word!

THEY’RE ALL JUST “MEN & WOMEN” LIKE YOU & ME! THEY HAVE THEIR UPS & DOWNS, SUCCESS & FAILURES, BATTLES & VICTORIES & STRUGGLES JUST LIKE YOU & ME! THIS GOES TO SHOW YOU & ME THAT WITH “HIS HELP” WE CAN DO IT!

Paul understood himself when he said in Romans 7:18-19

“For I know that in me, (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not do, that I practice/do.”

I want to bare my soul to you this morning with the hope that it will help you to not make the same MISTAKES I have made & STRUGGLE with! If I were to take all the MISTAKES of my life and boil them down to the FEW GREATEST MISTAKES OF MY LIFE “THAT” I could do.

As I said a moment ago, I don’t believe these are MISTAKES I bare & carry alone but these are areas I think most will struggle with in their lives. More than likely you’re going to find some of the same struggles in your life. In fact, I’ll go one step further! I BELIEVE YOU “ARE” GOING TO FIND SOME OF THE SAME STRUGGLES!

It is in this sermon, this discourse that I hope YOU ARE ENCOURAGED to DO BETTER, KNOW YOURSELF A LITTLE BETTER, LIKE PAUL DID, & KNOWHOW TO OVERCOME THOSE AREAS OF STRUGGLE! These are things I’ve struggled with all my Christians life! There have been times of VICTORY but most of the time the struggle isn’t with the enemy as much as it is within myself!