READ: 2 Timothy 2:13

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for he cannot deny Himself.

When was a time you messed up? In a relationship maybe? Or a job? Everyone’s been there. We all mess up. We’ve all failed somewhere. You may be thinking of something that happened last month, or maybe in the last fifteen minutes. Whether it’s letting a friend down, saying something you shouldn’t have to your spouse, going to bed way later than you should because you wanted to watch just one more episode of Daredevil (me last week), or maybe you forgot to call a student who needed encouragement from you.

When it happens, all of us have those same feelings of worthlessness; “How could I mess up again?” Will I ever get any better? I don’t deserve to be forgiven again. Peter felt it when he ran into the night after he denied Jesus three times in the temple court. He had turned his back on Jesus. Can you imagine what he felt? I bet you can. That’s why he went back to fishing, slipping back to the old life he left.

But then Jesus came back, and met Pete on the beach over breakfast, ready to remind him who he was and what he had been called to do. I love that. When we fail, Jesus doesn’t shove us back into our filth. He calls us out of it. Gently. Over breakfast.

Second Timothy 2:13 tells us that when we are faithless, God responds not with his own faithlessness, but with FAITHFULNESS. He’s put his Holy Spirit in us as promise (Eph. 1:13-14) that he will never leave us. His love for us is not contingent on how good or faithful we are. When we mess up, his grace is there to catch us. There will always be a second chance for those who are called the children of God, because we bear his name. What incredible news!

This week, think about something you’d like to do over. Maybe it’s a conversation; maybe it’s a choice you made last night.  Whatever it, ask the Lord for grace and forgiveness, knows he loves to give it, and ask Him to give you wisdom when the next opportunity comes.

Looking for a song to listen to this week? I love Second Chances by Rend Collective Experiment; check it out!