Earlier in the week, I accidently sent the “Show-and-Tell” bag home with the wrong student. In the middle of the week, I jammed the copier. Later in the week I accidently put the 3K information in the 4K newsletter. That, my dear friends, is the straw that broke the camel’s back. Why can’t I do anything right? Why can’t I get it together? Why can’t I be…well…perfect?

Deep breath. Shoulders down. Take a second.

God doesn’t say, “Be better. Dig deeper. Find it within you. Pull your bootstraps up.”

He says, “My grace is sufficient for you.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

These standards that we put on ourselves are not from him. They are a lie from the devil. When we are weak we don’t need to figure it out and be our own savior. If that were the case, we would be a continual mess.

When we are weak, our true Savior, our Best Friend, our greatest Advocate, carries us through.

Therefore, instead of being ashamed of my mistake in the newsletter or filled with prideful defensiveness when someone points it out, I can simply say, “Dear parents, I apologize for the mistake. Here’s the new newsletter with the correct information in it.” Just like that. No one got hurt. No one suggested I get fired for messing up. No one yelled, “shame!” and threw me to the gauntlet.

I realize this might seem dramatic, but these things happen. A lot. Often we are seriously that hard on ourselves.

Don’t lean on yourself. Ever.

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9b-10

So, dear friends. When mistakes happen, don’t be overcome with self-loathing. Get in the Word. That’s where your strength comes from. His Word will uncover our eyes and show us that he has already done it all. He was born, he lived a perfect life, he died, and rose again.
He is preparing a perfect place for you…a sinner. That’s grace. And it’s yours. Praise God!