Unfortunately, failure is a part of normal life. Is it possible to win even at failure? It is. We want to teach our children to give their best. When they do, God is honored by that. But let’s go deeper with adults, to talk about five levels of failure in life. No failure is terminal. We win at failure when we recover from it in a way that turns failure around into something good.
Level 1 Failure Is Making Innocent Mistakes in Everyday Life
Nobody’s perfect. We all make common mistakes like being forgetful or saying something thoughtless. You win at this level of failure simply by sincerely apologizing for your mistake.
Level 2 Failure Is Thinking Wrong About Your Values and Beliefs
This obviously assumes that there is right and wrong, as the Bible asserts.
Proverbs 14:12 There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.
How we think about ultimate values and beliefs is called our worldview. The Bible defines a correct view of reality. In fact, sin is when we choose to think and act based on our own ideas and opinions instead of God’s truth. This means that failure starts in your head. Every action starts with a thought. It then moves to your heart and ultimate to your hands.
1 Thessalonians 5:21 …Test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. 22 Stay away from every kind of evil.
You win at this level of failure by stopping to think. Read and learn what God says is true, and talk about it with others until you develop a biblical worldview.
Level 3 Failure Is Not Guarding Your Heart
This is not just about what you think, but about your convictions. It has to do with how you’ve allowed yourself to feel about your values and beliefs.
Proverbs 4:20-23 My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
The heart is where you cultivate your desires. Jesus said that bad behaviors originate in the heart (Matt 15:10-20). You win at this level of failure by brutal honesty with yourself and others. Don’t allow a culture to develop in your life, family, or business that is inconsistent with your true values and beliefs. Otherwise, you will set yourself up for the next level of failure.
Level 4 Failure Is Acting Against Your Values and Beliefs
This is always the eventual outcome of the process. What we think leads to how we feel about things, which leads to action.
James 1:14-15 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.
When you act against what you know is true or right, the only win is to repent. This is bad, but it’s not terminal. You can always turn from your sins.
Level 5 Failure Is Refusing to Repent
Repentance means a change of direction. You recognize you’re going the wrong way, and you turn back to the right way again. But there can come a time when repentance is no longer possible.
1 Timothy 4:1-2 Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead (or seared).
Some people develop a seared conscience. Their sensitivity toward right and wrong becomes dulled or cauterized. A person might experience worldly sorrow – remorse over the consequences of their actions or getting caught – but not true, godly sorrow.
2 Corinthians 7:10-11 For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves…. You showed that you have done everything necessary to make things right.
The solution to every kind of failure is to admit the problem and turn back to God’s truth and God’s ways again.
1 John 1:9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
Winning at losing is about translating godly values and beliefs into actionable items after you fail. Are you ready to win?
