Learning From Mistakes

God is quick to forgive, and he’s given us the gift of confession so we can return to a relationship with him after sin. But this love he has for us is so great that he never wants us to be caught by sin again, which is why he allows our sins to have consequences. Just like your parents would teach you why something is wrong, God helps us build knowledge of sin and its consequences by letting us experience them. Without learning from our mistakes, we would just keep falling into the same sins, separating us from a relationship with God.

Today, Fr. Mike explains why God lets us learn from our mistakes, and how it shows the depth of his mercy.


What It Costs to Forgive

Sometimes saying sorry just isn’t enough.

Chances are that you can remember a time you hurt someone through your actions. Maybe it was just missing something important to them, or letting your words slip to someone else, but whatever you did cost them something. And when your mistakes lead to someone in your life losing something, saying you’re sorry just isn’t enough.

Today, Fr. Mike explains why we have to ask people for forgiveness and not just say we’re sorry.


Minute Meditation – God Is Not Afraid of Mistakes

God is not afraid of mistakes, it seems. God knows that God can turn everything around—into good. There are no dead ends in the economy of grace. So, God allows us to play the field and eat of almost all the trees in the garden. This is scary, but Paul, as usual, offers a crescendo statement of the same: “For freedom Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1). Jesus lives it in his climactic forgiving breath (John 20:22), wherein he eternally frees humanity from its shame and guilt. Consider it this way: God’s main problem is how to give away God! But God has great difficulty doing this. You’d think everybody would want God, but the common response is something like this: “Lord, I am not worthy. I would rather have religion and morality, which give me the impression that I can win a cosmic contest by my own efforts.”

— from the book Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality by Richard Rohr, OFM, page 29

//Franciscan Media//


Ascension Presents – Why God Allows Us to Learn from Our Mistakes

God is quick to forgive, and he’s given us the gift of confession so we can return to a relationship with him after sin. But this love he has for us is so great that he never wants us to be caught by sin again, which is why he allows our sins to have consequences. Just like your parents would teach you why something is wrong, God helps us build knowledge of sin and its consequences by letting us experience them. Without learning from our mistakes, we would just keep falling into the same sins, separating us from a relationship with God.

Today, Fr. Mike explains why God lets us learn from our mistakes, and how it shows the depth of his mercy.


Minute Meditation – God is Not Afraid of Mistakes

God is not afraid of mistakes, it seems. God knows that God can turn everything around—into good. There are no dead ends in the economy of grace. So, God allows us to play the field and eat of almost all the trees in the garden. This is scary, but Paul, as usual, offers a crescendo statement of the same: “For freedom Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1). Jesus lives it in his climactic forgiving breath (John 20:22), wherein he eternally frees humanity from its shame and guilt. Consider it this way: God’s main problem is how to give away God! But God has great difficulty doing this. You’d think everybody would want God, but the common response is something like this: “Lord, I am not worthy. I would rather have religion and morality, which give me the impression that I can win a cosmic contest by my own efforts.”

— from the book Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality by Richard Rohr, OFM

//Franciscan Media//