When we make a mistake, we can end up fixating on it and punishing ourselves about it for ages. We overthink it, worry about it, think we’ve failed, and anticipate that we’ll just fail again. Once we’re in this mindset, it’s dangerous. Our self-esteem evaporates and we can label ourselves as failures. But this isn’t our identity. It’s true that we’ll make mistakes. James wrote: ‘We all stumble in many ways’ and Solomon said: ‘There’s not one totally good person on earth, Not one who is truly pure and sinless’ (Ecclesiastes 7:20 MSG). We will fail. But we aren’t failures. It’s good to recognise where we’re going wrong so that we can try and avoid making the same mistakes again. But when we start living out of a place of guilt and shame, we’ve let God’s truth about who we are become drowned out. The truth is that we’re loved by God and accepted by Him. He doesn’t see all our mistakes and condemn us. Instead, He sees the mistakes, forgives us and continues to love and accept us. The Bible says: ‘There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1 NIV). God isn’t condemning us, so we need to stop condemning ourselves. We’re all a work in progress. In Philippians 1, it says: ‘God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns’ (v.6 NLT). God’s working on us, and He’ll finish what He’s started. He’s not a harsh God who’s angry when we make mistakes. He’s gentle with us, so let’s be gentle with ourselves too.
