Mistakes and Misadventures

Moving from a life enslaved by "various passions and pleasures" to a life of salvation and righteousness is a lot of work. Oh, not the "saved" part. That part's easy. It's already a gift. Yours. Done. What's hard is living day in and day out making decisions that are good for us, for God, for those around us, for our financial, spiritual, vocational, emotional, physical health, and for the environment. Yeah, it's a lot.

It's easy to become overwhelmed with it all. We keep so many balls in the air, it's hard to keep them all moving. It's very easy to let some drop. Our decisions get sloppy just so we can keep moving forward. But life isn't a competition. No one's keeping score (except you, if you are). For every goof up, we have another opportunity to get it right the next time. There's an unlimited supply of do-overs in God's game of life. So feel your mistakes deeply, then learn from them, and then let them go. Keep moving forward. Keep choosing -- even if the decision turns out to be wrong, you're still moving generally in the forward direction. Forgive yourself for the mistakes. The sooner you let it go, the more time and energy you'll have to put into the good decisions, the best choices, and the most meaningful actions. Go do it. You're good to go.

Narrative Lectionary Text: Titus 3:1-8

Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show every courtesy to everyone. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is sure. I desire that you insist on these things, so that those who have come to believe in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works; these things are excellent and profitable to everyone.