What constitutes as failure?
God-
Sin
Failing God is not when our plans or
efforts don’t succeed. Failing God is when we don’t obey.
Ourselves-
Disobedience
Deuteronomy 30: 17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient,
and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be
destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing
the Jordan to enter and possess.
Betraying our Conscience
Romans 14:23 But
whoever has doubt stands condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from a
conviction,[h] and
everything that is not from a conviction is sin.
Perverting What God Gives Us
Romans 1: 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified
him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their
foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and
exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and
reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the
degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They
exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
Others
Causing to stumble
1 corinthians 10: 32 Do not cause anyone to stumble,whether Jews, Greeks or
the church of God— 33 even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but
the good of many, so that they may be saved.
Failing to love
1 Corinthians 13: 1 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a
resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Representing Christ Poorly
Romans 2:24 23 You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the
law? 24 As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because
of you.
What steps do we take after failure?
God-
Hebrews 4:14-16
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who
has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the
faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize
with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as
we are - yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with
confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time
of need
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus
Proverbs 24:16 - "Even if good people fall seven times, they will
get back up. But when trouble strikes the wicked, that's the end of them."
Psalm 40:2-3 - "and pulled me from a lonely pit full of mud and
mire. You let me stand on a rock with my feet firm, and you gave me a new
song, a song of praise to you. Many will see this, and they will honor and
trust you, the LORD God."
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Jeremiah 8:4-5 - "The LORD said: People of Jerusalem, when you
stumble and fall, you get back up, and if you take a wrong road, you turn
around and go back. So why do you refuse to come back to me? Why do you hold so
tightly to your false gods?"
Repentance
Hebrews 10: 26 If we deliberately
keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge
of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,
Luke 13:3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent,
you will all likewise perish.
Luke 13:5 No,
I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
Acts 3: 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped
out, that times of refreshing may come
from the Lord,
Ourselves-
Believe God’s Truth, Trust In His Promises, Living
In Obedience
Get Rid Of Things That Cause You To Fail
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of
witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily
entangles. And let us run with
perseverance the race marked out for us,
Matthew 18:8
If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for
you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and
be thrown into eternal fire.
Others-
Make Amends
Matthew 5: 23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar
and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go
and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.Luke 19: 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half
of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the
amount.”
Seek Forgiveness
Luke 17:3 So watch yourselves. “If your brother or
sister[ sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day
and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”
Confess
James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other
so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and
effective.
What steps do we avoid?
Blaming others
Genesis 3: 11 And he said, “Who told
you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she
gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Pretending it didn’t happen/Covering it up
2 Samuel 11:6-27
Thinking there won’t be consequences
2 Samuel 12: 12 You did it in secret, but I will
do this thing in broad daylight before all
Israel.’” 13 Then
David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”Nathan
replied, “The Lord has taken
away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter
contempt for[a] the Lord, the son born to you will die.”
Thinking
we are beyond redemption
"Through
the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;Great is Your faithfulness."
Lamentations 3:22-23
