Mistakes Are Not Fatal

By Michael Guido

The new bank president decided that he would meet individually with each employee to introduce himself. He wanted them to know that he was very interested in their work and how important they were to the success of the bank.

After introducing himself to all of the employees, he asked one of them to come to his office. After she sat down, he asked, “How long have you been working here?”

Proudly she responded, “Forty years. And in all that time I’ve only made one little mistake.”

“That’s amazing. Wonderful!” he grumbled. “However, be more careful from now on!”

We all make mistakes. And there are at least three things we can do about them:

We can promise never to make another mistake. That, however, is impractical since we know that such a ridiculous promise would be impossible to keep.

We can give up and never do anything else and live like a hermit in a cave for the rest of our lives. And, we know that’s impractical because life goes on.

Or, we can learn from our mistakes and profit from them as though they were our teachers. When things do not work out as intended, or our plans go astray and things get “messed up,” we need to admit it, look for how and why things “blew-up,” seek the help and advice of others, go to God in prayer, and ask for His wisdom which is available upon request.

PRAYER: Lord, Your Word assures us that “if we lack wisdom and want to know what to do” all we need to do is ask You. May we seek Your guidance and insight. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY: If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. – James 1:5-9