What to do when you have really messed up

What do you do when you realize you failed?

Maybe you don’t like that word. How about messed up, screwed up, (mhm) up.

Think about.

What do you tell others to do?

What do you want others who hurt you to do?

Here let me take a survey of failure, messing up

“Anyone else ever committed adultery, resulting in pregnancy and decide to cover up by taking out a hit on the spouse and having him murdered?”

ok. An awkward way to start. I haven’t done that either. But I’ve done some really horrible things in life.

immediately after I did them I knew I shouldn’t have done it and wanted no one to know that I did.

Or realized when something else happened, like someone did the same thing to me, I should have never did what I have done in the first place.

What would you tell me to do next?

The thing about a horrible thing is you can go through life doing horrible things and excusing it, acting like it didn’t happen or wasn’t a big deal.

Like I read one dad due for his son after he was arrested.

This arrest came after escaping from jail and a huge manhunt and chase that shut down portions of the city. He was arrested first for yet another time of beating up his wife and then later for fleeing jail, his dad said, “He’s not a bad person, he didn’t kill anybody.”

Attacked someone, no responsibility, compare, compare, compare

I’ve told you about the comment “good person” do not say that,

You can go through life comparing your evil to another, but one day you look back at your legacy and realize how messed up it is

Maybe you don’t compare, you are honest that you keep failing. But you aren’t honest about how big of an error it is. You don’t recognize sin for sin, you just excuse it, as a mistake, a slip, not a big deal.

Some are waking up today realizing

- When they thought God could not keep the world together because a President they disagreed with was elected or the United States would go into civil war and all of society would fall apart, were wrong. God is still God. The world didn’t end. Decisions you disagreed with happened but in 4 years a different side was elected.

Perhaps you thought God didn’t care. You were wrong

Maybe this morning your waking up this morning believing that God failed you because those you know in your heart the right people didn’t get elected. How could this world be so stupid? etc. etc.

My friends, God is still God. And the command for us is to not take our eyes of the Lord Jesus who is are real savior, not any elected leader. They are our servant who we pray for, no matter the party.

If today you realize you didn’t pray for Trump. or you can only pray that God defeat your political opponent, than today you learn you have sinned.

We are to pray for all our leaders, and for all of us to follow Christ first and then our leaders.

This is learning but one downside to learning is realizing that first moment when you recognize what you did was failure.

Oh boy did I realize failure this week, I attended a training this week on a system called pIcture exchange communication.

training

I had failed

went back to my student

Hugely successful

But for 5 years I had failed other student

Teachings a good thing and people learn, and maybe some of you are being kind right now, but when you realize that your addiction has destroyed you and those around you, Then your first thought again is I’m a failure.

You can take this and say I can’t handle that truth

But it is possible. There is another way.

The blessings of God don’t begin when we are good they also begin when we fail if we follow Him in our failure.

My friends

What do we do when we fail?

Just forget it and call it forgiving yourself

Point to other worse behavior

Use it as a reason you need to be addicted to your addiction

A huge fail was when King David did exactly the thing that I asked you about earlier.

Saw someone else’s wife

Made a baby with her

Tried to cover up his affair by bringing her soldier husband home

Then had the soldier return to the field, and killed in battle.

Prophet came and told him God knew exactly what He did.

David failed big time

Then he wrote this Psalm

Psalm 51:1–3 NLT

1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. 2 Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. 3 For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night.

Such powerful pictures of intense remorse over this

Ever become so aware of how awful you’ve been that you just wanted someone to scrub it out of you.

Haunting sin is such a power picture of what can really happen in our lives. Imagine a halloween display that didn’t have ghosts and goblins but pictures of your awful decisions in life.

Feeling awful about sin is not awful, it’s smart.

But feeling awful isn’t spiritual in fact that’s just feeling guilty and it can lead to more sin, more addiction

Justice happens with the one you wronged, and you have to start at the top.

If I go and destroy a painting should I apologize to the painting or to the artist.

Our wrongs to others need to start with the one who created them

Psalm 51:4–6 The Message

4 You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil. You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair. 5 I’ve been out of step with you for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born. 6 What you’re after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.

David is talking to God, and in this prayer, David is teaching himself and acknowledging the truth. He sinned against God. First and foremost.

He acknowledges God’s place because sin is about not doing that in our lives.

And he acknowledge what God really wants, He doesn’t want us to beat ourselves, feel guilty, or even volunteer until our feet are bloody He wants us to live in a new, true life

Psalm 51:6 CSB

6 Surely you desire integrity in the inner self, and you teach me wisdom deep within.

Confess. Admit your purposefully sinned against God. Live in truth.

There is no blaming others, no coming up with excuses, and an awareness that it could have been different.

But don’t stop here.

Don’t stop with an awareness that God desires better of you and you could’ve done better.

Realize what you need

Psalm 51:7–10 CSB

7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Turn your face away from my sins and blot out all my guilt. 10 God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

You need someone to wash you clean.

Realize you need forgiveness. You need something done.

You failed and I don’t know if you’ve done something you can’t take back. Maybe it is as serious as jail time or as long lasting as consequences for a life time, but don’t ever assume nothing can be done.

Jesus died on the cross for this. Whatever it is, whether it be failing at being your best in school, failing your kids, hurting others, whatever it is Jesus died on the cross for you and paid that punishment you know is necessary.

You first wrong God, but Jesus who is God, Jesus paid the price and offers that forgiveness. Accept it.

He died on the cross in a bloody horrible way, to pay the punishment for our sins. That sacrifice is all that needed to make it right with God. Accept it.

1 John 1:7 CSB

7 If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

1 John 1:8–9 CSB

8 If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

You can’t scrub off sin in the shower, but Jesus washes your sin away in His forgiveness.

Always remember His forgiveness is complete. He is the one who makes it right.

In teaching, we went back to the beginning to where I first messed up and saw that my student could talk.

In your life Jesus is going to do the miraculous, He isn’t going back. There is no going back. He is going to start right where you are, right now and if you accept His sacrifice and Follow Him, the Holy Spirit God himself will enter you and guide you to completely become something no one thought possible.

Many of those around you know it because you are living it.

2 Corinthians 5:17 CSB

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!

Accept it.

Accept it and tell everyone about it. A first action is to get Baptized it symbolizes to everyone that your

If you have accepted it.

Accept it again. And Again. And again.

Because this cross is once for all,

Hebrews 10:16–18 The Message

16 This new plan I’m making with Israel isn’t going to be written on paper, isn’t going to be chiseled in stone; This time “I’m writing out the plan in them, carving it on the lining of their hearts.” 17 He concludes, I’ll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins. 18 Once sins are taken care of for good, there’s no longer any need to offer sacrifices for them.

Did you get that my friends who have acccepted Jesus into their lives but today you realizing you have once again screwed up.

Do you remember the movie Sandlot?

Let’s read verse 17 in the right way then

Hebrews 10:17 The Message

17 He concludes, I’ll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins.

FOR-EV-ER

You are a new creation, do not give your life to your addictions, to your sins, to the places, ways or people that led you to sin,

How does God tell us to deal with failure?

Realize the failure

Feel bad - grieve sin, and then

Confess your sin - to God and to another and then

Accept God died for your sin

Accept God forgave you your sin

Accept God empowers you for new life

Live in the new life.