I was sent a quote and have been communicating with people in regards to the thoughts on failures...here is an excerpt from the dialogues...
A QUOTE FROM A GOOD FRIEND.
At least if you're failing, you know you're alive; you're participating, engaged, learning, and therefore contributing to evolution.
The Japanese have a phrase for this; they call it "the nobility of failure,"
implying, "Look at all the great things at which this person failed.
She was really alive."
Honor one of your noble failures
My comment...
PRAISE THE LORD FOR FAILURES>>>WHICH SAYS WE ARE LIVING!!!!!
I pray that each of you know of God's immense love for you
today.regardless of your feelings and thoughts. You are loved and
that will never change.
Then I received a response and this is my response to their email...
Yes, God wants us to be perfect as He is perfect. My thought on that is...
We will never measure up. God is God, we are not. In that we will fail, we will walk in failure, even when we try to be the best we can. It is in that failure that we recognize our need for Jesus, the holy spirit and our Papa.
We can be wise, we can be on fire, we can be mentally with it and be the best planner and still fail. So how do we cope with those failures...do we shame ourselves...do we think less of ourselves...do we accept grace as that which covers those failures? In the words of evolution...the context that is referred to in this quote is our evolving as Jesus Followers...it is an expression of not being the same as I was yesterday. That I admit my shortcomings and "failures"...and I have to recognize that which I have not done well, even when I am working hard not to fail...so that I can say...Jesus, may I learn from this, may I grow from this, help me to be the best and not make the same mistakes that I did before.
I think in terms of honoring our failures...it is more recognizing them, that they do exist...if we turn a blind eye on them...we are like that ostrich that puts its head in the sand...or turns a blind eye on that which God wants us to recognize, so we can move forward, instead of just burying it.
What about those people who are struggling, who are trying to put their lives back together, the prostitute on the street who knows Jesus, yet cannot yet quit acting out...what is her worth? I always think, about my attitude, my thoughts and how I communicate them to others, especially someone who is struggling with issues and the expression of that struggle is more visible on the exterior (rather than the 'average' Christian in a church seat...who is just the same as that prostitute on the street).
I am reminded of the word that says..."His strength is made perfect in my weakness". It does not say His strength is made perfect in my victories.
I believe what you say, where you are coming from. I just wanted to clarify evolution, from a relevant Christian perspective...this one was not intended to focus on the evolutionary theory of creation...rather the evolution of our inner man, as we walk with Christ...and not being the same as we were yesterday.
Just in the area of me, clarifying the evolutionary word, I recognize that I have to watch how I put my words and to define what they mean. That is what I am doing here.
I also hate my failures, and they do not define me. Yet, I know because I have walked in recognizing them, sitting in it (not in a passive way, but a pro-active way) with Jesus.
I do however understand Grace, and know that in walking with people who recognize their need for Jesus, and the failures that they do, that often it is a process...a step by step process of healing. It may mean that you will fall flat on your face...and what do you do with that? How do you walk with someone who has fallen...and needs the help of his/her Christian brothers and sisters. I think of the paralytic man who was lowered down from the roof, so that he would get healed. He needed his brothers to help him, to carry him, to cut a hole.
I am reminded of Lazarus...and the words of Jesus, that said...unbind him. There was a deeper meaning to that statement. That often people are dead in their sin, their hurts, and pain. That we as a body of Christ, who are to be like Christ, are to unbind those in pain and hurt. It means that we need to recognize that with death, there is stink, ugliness and pain. It means walking with others regardless of their victories and failures.
"My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness. So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me. Since I know it is all for Christ's good, I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NLT
A question...What is our role as a Christian? What is our mandate? What is our focus here on earth?
Thanks for your words...I love the dialogue.
