By Melanie Stevenson
Maybe you’ve made a few mistakes in life. Perhaps your past has moved in like an unwelcome guest. Maybe condemnation is ransacking your thoughts—a steady stream of fault-finding reminders. Or you’re living under critical words spoken to you in your childhood, and, whether they were true or not, you still drag them along on your journey. If you find yourself living on the outskirts of joy, or even faith, here’s some encouragement.
By way of a brief recap, Peter, a disciple of Jesus, cut off a high priest’s servant’s ear (John 18:10) and a few hours later denied he knew Jesus (Luke 22:54-62). Saul, renamed Paul, made a habit of persecuting Christians (Acts 8:3), and David slept with another man’s wife and precipitated her husband’s death (2 Samuel 11). These are just a few examples of fallible, mistake-making people in the Bible.
But their story doesn’t end there, and neither does ours. God doesn’t write them off or deem them spiritually unfit because of their mistakes. He’s the God of forgiveness—the God of second chances. If you’re under the impression that you’ve blown it, that God has given up on you, that you’re unfit for his kingdom, or that he couldn’t possibly love you or use you for his purposes, think again.
Peter may have been rash and outspoken, he may have turned his back on Jesus, but Jesus goes to great lengths to let him know he is loved and forgiven and prophetically champions him for his coming ministry. This is what Jesus says of Peter, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18) For all his faults, this same Peter left his fishing business to follow Jesus, walked on water to meet Jesus, and spent the rest of his life proclaiming Jesus and dying in the same manner as Jesus for his faith.
Paul was literally stopped in his tracks from further persecuting believers (Acts 9). After his conversion, he covered over 10,000 miles, mainly through present-day Israel, Syria, Turkey, and Greece, preaching the gospel for his remaining thirty-two years until his execution. Half of the New Testament writings are attributed to Paul. God took Paul’s zealousness and used it for His glory and honor. Paul says, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Philippians 3:8)
Regarding David, “God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.” (Acts 13:22) Although David coveted, committed adultery, stole another man’s wife, lied, and indirectly murdered, he was deeply repentant for his wrongdoing. He received God’s forgiveness—a deep peace we often forfeit. Though imperfect, David pointed his heart toward God and sought to do God’s will. During great tests of faith, he continued to seek the Lord. Notably, Jesus is a descendant of David, the man also responsible for seventy-three of the Psalms.
Even the “greats” of the Bible had their faults and failings, and their stories help to remind us that we aren’t confined or defined by our own. There is more to our story than our mistakes. Repeatedly, the Bible details the lives of imperfect men and women who ministered in profound ways despite mistakes and failures.
Our spiritual growth is gradual. We can be merciful to ourselves—and others—in our growing pains. We can refuse to play failure on repeat—perpetually reminding ourselves or others of our mistakes—and instead make room for God’s redemptive, refining work, remembering that it is through him that transformation occurs.
The same transformative work we see in Peter, Paul, and David is available to us. We don’t need to have it all together to come to God. We’re going to experience mistakes and baggage, our own and others’. There will be junk. But we aren’t too messy for God and don’t need to be polished to come to Christ. He does the cleanup we can’t manage. No matter our mistakes, his forgiveness is readily available.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39
Award-winning author Melanie Stevenson
Born in England, Melanie has never lost her love of British tea and gardens. Her family immigrated to Canada when she was five years old and settled in southern Ontario. Years later, she entered the University of Waterloo as an English major and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.
Growing up, Melanie was passionate about reading, writing, and drawing. She wrote her first novel at age twelve. Since becoming a Christian at age eighteen, she has filled countless journal pages with prayers which became the inspiration behind her devotionals.
One More Tomorrow (September 2019) is Melanie’s debut novel (the first line of which was conceived in an airport terminal) and won Best Romance at the 2020 Word Guild Awards. Her second book, Soul Focus – Trials (November 2019), is a selection of devotionals written over a span of ten years. Melanie was the winner of Best New Canadian Author at the 2020 Word Guild Awards, and received runner up for Best New Manuscript at the 2021 Word Guild Awards.
Passionate about the arts, Melanie is also an abstract painter who specializes in acrylic and oil. For over twenty-five years, she has been involved in theatre and has written and directed numerous stage plays. She continues to teach acting classes to young people and adults.
She and her husband, Ralph, are parents of four amazing humans: Kurtis, Konnor, Elanna, and Keira. For eighteen years, Melanie homeschooled and passed on her love of the arts to her children.
Melanie is passionate about telling others of the healing love of Jesus, and championing others in their faith journey through both the written and spoken word.