Every one of us knows what it is to fail. We may not all fail in the same way, but nobody lives very long without looking back at some moment and saying, “I wish I had done that differently.” Some failures are public. Some are private. Some are moral, spiritual, relational or personal. But failure has a way of leaving a mark. It can leave guilt, shame, sorrow, consequences and memories we wish we could erase.
The question is not simply, “Have we failed?” The question is, “What do we do with our failures?”
One of the clearest examples in Scripture of someone who failed is Simon Peter. Peter loved the Lord. He followed Christ. He had left his nets, heard Jesus preach, seen miracles, walked on water and confessed, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter was sincere, but Peter still failed.
