Making Mistakes Part 2

The Atonement

As I read through Part 1 of this post I thought about how easy it sounded to experiment and make mistakes.  It seems so simple a truth; Test it and see what happens.  I still feel apprehensive about jumping in and making mistakes though.  It's not the experimenting part I struggle with, it is the mistake part that I can't seem to overcome.  Why is that?

The scriptures give us examples of people learning from their mistakes, yet it is the view of the world that I seem to cling to.  It has been ingrained in us from our childhood that mistakes are bad. Vineet Nayar, vice chairman and CEO of HCL Technologies Ltd., stated it perfectly when he said, "All through school, a mistake indicates the prospect of lower grades. Good students don't make mistakes. At home, mistakes lead to admonishments. Good children follow the rules. At work, mistakes have serious repercussions. Good workers get it right the first time."

This indoctrination of fear of mistakes is tough to overcome even though there is evidence that making mistakes often leads to innovation and new inventions. Why then don't we allow, much less encourage, ourselves and others to make mistakes?

There have been some advocates in history that have understood the importance of making mistakes.  Mahatma Gandhi once said, "freedom isn't worth having if it doesn't include the freedom to make mistakes" and George Bernard Shaw said, "A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing."

The question we should be asking ourselves isn't how do I avoid making mistakes, but instead, how do I make the most of the mistakes I make. 
 
Making the Most of Our Mistakes
I have plenty of experience in the area of making mistakes, not because I embrace the idea of making mistakes, but because I am human and they just seem to follow me.  It seems that life is filled with opportunities to make mistakes, even when we aren't looking to make them.  What would happen if we chose to face our mistakes head on and realize that it's not the mistake that is the problem, but how we deal with it? 

Like many others I have committed a full range of mistakes. There are the small mistakes that are easy to move on from and then there are the big mistakes which stick with us and never seem to let go.

In the scriptures we are given an opportunity to read about some of Peter's mistake-making moments. In Matthew 16:21-23 we see an interesting interaction between Peter and Christ.

From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.  Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.  But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Regarding these verses, one pastor posed the question: How would you like for your mistakes to be a stumbling block to Jesus? Yikes!  What a humbling moment this must have been for Peter. It appears he learned his lesson and was able to put this behind him, because in the very next chapter we find him with Christ at the Mount of Transfiguration. 

Peter would continue to make mistakes.  Remember the story of Peter denying Christ three times in Matthew 26? Peter was feeling pretty low after the rooster crowed that third time.  The scriptures tell us "and he went out, and wept bitterly" (Matt 26:75). 

We have all felt this type of distress when we have made a big mistake.  These are the mistakes that when recalled bring on a physical reaction like tears, or a stomach ache, or cause us to shiver at the thought of them. These are the mistakes that fill us with regret. And if we let them, these are the mistakes that would consume us with guilt and shame, two feelings that impede progress.

What would I have done if I were in Peter's shoes? I don't really know and I am thankful that I have not been asked to bear that burden. I do know that the guilt and shame I have felt over my own mistakes has often led me to seek an escape from the situation.  I hate the way guilt and shame make me feel, they have a strange power over me. I have been paralyzed by fear so much so that I faced the inability to make a decision.  The thought of, what if I make another mistake, was a constant reminder of the first mistake and the fear that I would only add to the guilt and shame. Throw in the fact that disappoint usually follows mistakes and you have the perfect scenario for Satan to jump in and make a bad situation worse.  It is a vicious cycle.

President Packer gives some great counsel on this topic: "Guilt is spiritual pain. Do not suffer from chronic pain. Get rid of it. Be done with it. Repent, and, if necessary, repent again and again and again and again until you—not the enemy—are in charge of you."

If there is one thing that gets me looking beyond the fear of guilt and shame it is the thought that Satan has a hold of me when I feel that way. I CANNOT and WILL NOT let him win! I do not want to become a puppet in Satan's hands. I want to remain a child of God, with my agency intact, and the possibility for eternal salvation and exaltation. 

This is where the life-saving gift of the Atonement comes in.  President Packer reminds us that, ""The Atonement is like an eraser. It can wipe away guilt and the effect of whatever it is that is causing you to feel guilty."

Let's go back to Peter denying Christ.  In John 21:15-17 we read a conversation that takes place between Christ and Peter after the resurrection:

So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.  He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.  He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

Jesus told Peter, you made a mistake, three times in fact.  But He also tells him three times to "feed my sheep".  This is significant because Christ is letting Peter know that He knows Peter's heart, and even though Peter failed, and declared things he couldn't live up to, He still had work for him to do.  Not just any work, but the most important work, feeding His sheep.

This is a work that requires not letting your failures stop you. It requires teaching and encouraging others who might also feel like they have failed Christ.  Peter knows what that feels like and because of that is better prepared to lead others who struggle with failure and insecurity.

If we are going to make the most of our mistakes, we have to learn the lessons that they teach us. Peter went on to be a pillar in the early Christian church. Through his mistakes, he learned to walk with Christ, and he was able to teach others to do the same. He learned the restorative grace of God and that we can move forward and do mighty things, if and only if, we let our past mistakes be our teachers instead of our tormentors.

The atonement allows us to replace error with truth. In John 8:32 Jesus tells us, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Free from guilt and shame.  Free to be worthy of His blessings.  Free to go about doing His work.  There is no need to wallow in the misery of our mistakes. Instead, we need to let our mistakes be a stepping stone to victory. 

It says in Hebrews10:38 "the just (righteous) will live by faith." We all make mistakes in life. Have faith that you will make mistakes, but also have faith that God will see you through it, He will restore you, support you, and strengthen you.  Make your mistakes an opportunity of learning and He will place you on a firm foundation.  

At the beginning of this post I stated that I hoped that there was a purpose to making mistakes.  It turns out that mistakes can, if we let them, teach us to be better disciples of Christ and bring us closer to Him and each other. Isn't it just like God to give us some the most choice blessings available during some of our most difficult times!