Do You Wonder What God Thinks When You Mess Up? If Not, You Should Be Concerned

Matthew 18:1-5  &  Romans 6:23

When you make mistakes and mess up but aren't concerned, then it means you are your own supreme commander. See what God thinks about that.

Soul Food

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.’”

- Matthew 18:1-5 (NIV)

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

- Romans 6:23 (NIV)

Soul Search

• When you make poor choices, do things that are wrong, and in general, mess up, do you get upset or bothered about it?
  Do you get upset with yourself or try to shift blame and get upset with others around you?

• Is there a pattern to your response when you mess up and if so, what is that pattern? 

• What are some of the specific ways you respond to yourself and to others when you’ve done something bad?

• Do you respond in any way to God when you do something wrong? How do you respond to Him?

Soul Moves

• Take a good inventory of any patterns you see in how you handle your own failures. 
  Be honest with yourself: how do you handle your own mistakes?

• If you tend to be dismissive of your mistakes and failures can you take a close look at yourself and understand why that is? 
  If you shun responsibility for your poor choices and mistakes, ask God to show you what needs to happen in you to change that.

• If you don’t think about being accountable to a ‘higher power’ – we call Him ‘God’ – then ask yourself why. 
  Consider that you need to be accountable to God for your mistakes and wrongdoings and that you need to care about what God thinks about you.

• Move your soul close to God and ask Him to become part of your life through a relationship with Jesus Christ. 
  Pray this prayer to Him: Dear God, I come before you today with a humble heart and surrender my life to you. I believe that Jesus Christ was born free of sin, died on the cross as a payment for my own sin, and rose three days later. I believe in your gift of salvation and eternal life because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. God, today I repent and turn from my old way of life. Because of your mercy and grace, I can have childlike faith. Today I ask for new life through Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you, God for forgiving me and making me brand new. In Jesus' name, Amen.