2 Corinthians 4:16-18: 16 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Proverbs 24:16: “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity.”
Proverbs 37:24: “Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand.
I am sure that if you have been a Christian for any length of time you have probably read Romans 7:14-25. In this passage, Paul talks about the battle with the flesh. How he longs to do good, but evil is there all the time. The evil, of course, is in us, in me, in you as we deal with the flesh that we are bound in until we meet Jesus.
I have a good friend, a brother in the Lord, who uses his skateboarding talents to minister to young people all over the world. He is currently raising the funds to begin a mission point in New York City. I happened to be watching a video about skateboarding, and the man, a Christian, pointed out that skateboarders have to learn how to fall. It is an essential part of the culture. They ALL fall, even the seasoned professionals. The issue is that one cannot ever master a trick move unless one falls often, fails often, and gets back up and tries again. The only way to succeed is to fail and to learn how to fail the right way.
In the passages above, we are told that God will help us to get up after we fail, as often as we fall. We are two persons living in a symbiotic relationship: the inner man that cannot fail, and the outer man that fails all the time. One part of us never has to learn how to fall; the other does.
Albert Einstein was quoted as saying, “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” We are an old, broken, sinful body trying to learn to walk and live with the new perfect man inside of us, and as such, we will fall often. True learning is learning how to fall, get up, and try again.
I have watched my son skateboard or try to do tricks on his BMX bike; he falls and fails time after time; sometimes the falls really hurt, but as soon as he is healed, and often before he is healed, he is back at it, determined to do the trick.
We need to have the same mentality when we fall and when we get back up, even when it hurts, and try again. Keep trying, never stop trying, and even if you never land the trick, you will get better at it or closer to it.
Proverbs 24:16: “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity.”
Proverbs 37:24: “Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand.
I am sure that if you have been a Christian for any length of time you have probably read Romans 7:14-25. In this passage, Paul talks about the battle with the flesh. How he longs to do good, but evil is there all the time. The evil, of course, is in us, in me, in you as we deal with the flesh that we are bound in until we meet Jesus.
I have a good friend, a brother in the Lord, who uses his skateboarding talents to minister to young people all over the world. He is currently raising the funds to begin a mission point in New York City. I happened to be watching a video about skateboarding, and the man, a Christian, pointed out that skateboarders have to learn how to fall. It is an essential part of the culture. They ALL fall, even the seasoned professionals. The issue is that one cannot ever master a trick move unless one falls often, fails often, and gets back up and tries again. The only way to succeed is to fail and to learn how to fail the right way.
In the passages above, we are told that God will help us to get up after we fail, as often as we fall. We are two persons living in a symbiotic relationship: the inner man that cannot fail, and the outer man that fails all the time. One part of us never has to learn how to fall; the other does.
Albert Einstein was quoted as saying, “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” We are an old, broken, sinful body trying to learn to walk and live with the new perfect man inside of us, and as such, we will fall often. True learning is learning how to fall, get up, and try again.
I have watched my son skateboard or try to do tricks on his BMX bike; he falls and fails time after time; sometimes the falls really hurt, but as soon as he is healed, and often before he is healed, he is back at it, determined to do the trick.
We need to have the same mentality when we fall and when we get back up, even when it hurts, and try again. Keep trying, never stop trying, and even if you never land the trick, you will get better at it or closer to it.
