DON’T WASTE YOUR MISTAKE Philippians 3:13-14, “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” People of God, there are several common reactions to mistakes – justification, blaming others, condemnation, citing factors beyond your control. But these are all a waste of a mistake. Learn from your past and avoid living in your past; grow through your situation and avoid merely going through your situation. The devil will never stop reminding you of your past - your past wrong, past hurt, past pain. He wants you to live in your past so that you continue to stay stuck, stagnant, or go around in circles and miss the ‘prize for which God has called’ you to receive in Christ Jesus. Apostle Paul was attentive to the fact that growing in Christ-likeness requires acute determination to avoid the distraction of the pain, shame or blame of the past. While everyone makes mistakes, not everyone makes the most of them. Real failure is not what you fail in but your failure to learn from it. How do you make the most of your mistake? Don't downplay or justify it but repent and learn from it. Repent and grow through it, get back up and move on because your past is over. Your mistakes can be tools to mature you so far as they are accompanied by the humility to acknowledge them and the willingness to learn from them. Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, give me the grace to make the most of every mistake by learning what I should know so that I can grow in Christ-likeness. In Jesus’ name, amen.