The Youth Pastor of Covenant Community Church - Ryan Robertson - preached this past Sunday. He did a great job telling the story of Peter's denial (John 18:15-18 and 25-27) and Jesus' restoration of Peter ( found in John 21:15-18)...he also created a new word for us all to use: Shilt - A combination of shame and guilt.
It was graduation Sunday and the point he wanted to get across is that it is okay to fail because God uses our failure to grow us and shape us. It is unhealthy to stay in the "shilt" when we have failed, therefore God always points us towards healing. Failure is not an "if" but a "when." And if we let failure grow us rather than define us, we move towards healing.
There's even objective science behind the truth that failure grows us. In her book Mindset Carol Dweck talks about how failure actually leads to more synapses firing off in the brain which creates more connections in the brain and actually grows the brain. Isn't that so cool! God has designed the human brain in such a way that failure leads to growth.
Ryan's point was not "go fail," but it was "you will fail and it's okay, God uses it to grow you and shape you." The way Jesus handled Peter's failure was not to deny it, but to address it. However, Jesus didn't address it in a way that Peter had to dwell in it...Jesus addresses Peter's failure then pointed him towards purpose, towards something good and meaningful. He restored Peter by acknowledging his failure and then by leading Peter towards his future.
Give yourself permission to fail knowing God's grace for you is enough to cover you and God's purpose for you is enough to move you forward.
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