2 Corinthians 4:16-18: 16 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Proverbs 24:16: “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity.”
Proverbs 37:24: “Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand.
I am sure that if you have been a Christian for any length of time you have probably read Romans 7:14-25. In this passage, Paul talks about the battle with the flesh. How he longs to do good, but evil is there all the time. The evil, of course, is in us, in me, in you as we deal with the flesh that we are bound in until we meet Jesus.
I have a good friend, a brother in the Lord, who uses his skateboarding talents to minister to young people all over the world. He is currently raising the funds to begin a mission point in New York City. I happened to be watching a video about skateboarding, and the man, a Christian, pointed out that skateboarders have to learn how to fall. It is an essential part of the culture. They ALL fall, even the seasoned professionals. The issue is that one cannot ever master a trick move unless one falls often, fails often, and gets back up and tries again. The only way to succeed is to fail and to learn how to fail the right way.
In the passages above, we are told that God will help us to get up after we fail, as often as we fall. We are two persons living in a symbiotic relationship: the inner man that cannot fail, and the outer man that fails all the time. One part of us never has to learn how to fall; the other does.
Albert Einstein was quoted as saying, “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” We are an old, broken, sinful body trying to learn to walk and live with the new perfect man inside of us, and as such, we will fall often. True learning is learning how to fall, get up, and try again.
I have watched my son skateboard or try to do tricks on his BMX bike; he falls and fails time after time; sometimes the falls really hurt, but as soon as he is healed, and often before he is healed, he is back at it, determined to do the trick.
We need to have the same mentality when we fall and when we get back up, even when it hurts, and try again. Keep trying, never stop trying, and even if you never land the trick, you will get better at it or closer to it.
Many seasoned veterans miss tricks in skateboarding, surfing, and all kinds of other disciplines. The same is true with our relationship with the Lord; keep trying. Get up, don’t stay down, don’t give up, don’t give in. Like skateboarding, falling is a part of it. It is important that we learn how to land.
In 1 John 1:8-9, we are told the first part of how to land. These verses are not about salvation; John is writing to saved people here, and he encourages us to confess our sins. Consider what you did wrong, and get right with God; this is the first step to falling the right way. The second is your mindset. Paul says in Romans 7:21 that even though evil is present, he WILLS to do good. We have to want to succeed at the living for the Lord, or we will stop trying. We will stop getting up.
Many of us know of brothers and sisters in the Lord who simply stopped trying. They gave up and determined that it was too hard. They attend church, and they seem to be consistent, but their hearts are not in it. We all have things we wanted to do, but they got too hard; and we have the guitar, the piano, the old skateboard, the art set, the whatever in the basement, and it just reminds us that we failed.
Paul, in Romans 7:24-25, says, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Jesus is the one who can help us and free us from the body of death that is attached to us. We will not ever be perfect in this body, in this life, but unlike skateboarding for most of us, if we truly keep trying, if we truly keep putting our bodies into submission, we will be able to get better and see some success. BUT we are to remember that all of our successes belong to Jesus. It is He who helps us get up, He who helps us try again, He who forgives our failures and He who rejoices alongside us when we succeed. No one cheers louder for us than Jesus.
One of the things that helps to keep us going is that feeling of accomplishment when we land a trick, solve a problem, or finish a puzzle. Relish the successes and let that feeling of obeying and pleasing the Lord goad us on to trying again and again until falling and trying again becomes a normal part of our life. We never stop trying, never give in, and never give up. In addition, we begin to encourage those that we see trying and failing as well. We cheer them on and encourage them to get up over and over again. We find ourselves going over and picking them up, dusting them off, and giving them a ‘let’s try again’ chat.
What if we became adept at picking our brothers and sisters up instead of laughing at them when they fell? The Lord’s churches would be so different and so vibrant with people who were willing to try, and try, and try because they were not afraid to fail. Soon, we would have more succeeding, more encouragers, and fewer people quitting.
Let us fail, let us heal, and let us try again together until Jesus comes to get us; and then, we will never fail or fall again.
God bless you,
Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church
How To Connect With Us
In-person: every Sunday (10:30 am) at Bethany Baptist Church 70 Victoria Street, Elora, ON
Online: https://mmbchurch.ca/
Email: seangooding@mmbchurch.ca
Join us on Zoom every Sunday (10:30 am) for Sunday Service AND every Tuesday at 8:00 pm for Bible Study: Meeting ID: 700 794 460 Passcode: 032661; https://us02web.zoom.us/j/700794460?pwd=M3NFRG91ZW5Sa2Z3amVyWkFnYXd6QT09