Yesterday at church, I was asked to sing our closing song. For the past five weeks, another choir member has led it, but she wasn’t there this time. Some songs fit your voice naturally, while others are more challenging. I didn’t feel comfortable at first, but I agreed to fill in. When I began, I made a mistake. Instead of pushing through, I paused, spoke to the congregation, let them know we would start over, and invited everyone to sing along with me.
Was I embarrassed? Not really. After singing in church for at least thirty years, I’m comfortable starting over when needed.
Are you comfortable starting over if you make a mistake?
Many of us aren’t. We feel embarrassed, ashamed, or panicked, and often freeze or shut down. Mistakes can trigger self-doubt, and our inner voice might say we’re not good enough or couldn’t do it anyway. Isn’t that true?
But what does God say to us? His message is completely different.
He tells us: You are forgiven. Come to me. Forget the past. My grace is sufficient. I’ve got you. It’s okay.
Wow!
No matter what you’ve done or whom you’ve disappointed, God forgives you and wants to help you live the life He’s given you. The scripture 1 John 2:1 tells us just that.
1 John 2:1 (NIV)
“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”
When John wrote this, he was older and spoke with compassion, addressing his listeners as his spiritual children. He began with “My dear children,” showing a fatherly tone of care and concern.
God cares. He loves us. He wants us to come running back when we mess up and need to start over. As this scripture says, He is our advocate; He supports us. Christ is compassionate. He welcomes us back. He removes our guilt and offers no condemnation to those who return to Him. God can take all our broken pieces, mistakes, and failures and turn them into something good.
When we read the Bible, we see many who made mistakes, kept going, and maybe even started over: Adam, Eve, Cain, Sarah, Paul, David, Moses, Noah, Jonah—and the list goes on.
You have never messed up so much that you can’t start over and be forgiven, especially when we have the habits of:
- Starting every day in the Word
- Serving as Jesus served
- Fill your cup with Christ so you can fill other cups with Him also
As Father Mike says, “I’ll pray for you; you pray for me,” and as Tara Leigh Cobble says, “He’s where the joy is,” and never forget: Cupcake loves you, but so does Jesus.
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