Everybody Falls

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” Romans 3:23

Have you ever made a mistake? That’s a silly question, right? Because everyone makes mistakes. But I want you to think about the mistakes that cause your Anxiety to flare up. The embarrassing ones. That you have to own up to in front of people you respect… or worse, the people you know are watching for those mess ups. I made a mistake here recently, or rather it was discovered. And I wasn’t trying to hide it, it just came to the light because of circumstances. And my Anxiety was HIGH, ok? I’m talking about my face getting red, my body going hot, and my stomach dropped. Because not only did I know I needed to own the mistake, I also needed to confess it. So I bossed up, owned it, and these are the words I received back after my confession and apology: You’re Human. When she said it I instantly felt the weight lift from my shoulders (she has no idea how much peace it brought me so if she’s reading this today… thanks sis!) and I replied with “surprisingly, it’s moments like this that remind me.”

That’s where I want us to sit today; in then moments that remind us that it’s ok to be human and have human responses to stressors. The reason I was so Anxious about this confession I needed to make was because it was a shot at my Confidence. I had been trusted with a task and praised for how well I’d executed it, only to find out that because of the Stress placed on the situation I had missed crossing a T and dotting and I. I know that happens for you sometimes. Where you miss the mark. It’s not a complete miss or an epic one but you feel it so heavily when it Stresses out your Confidence in yourself and your ability to be superior. But guess what? Even in all your superior splendor, you’re still human! And humans make mistakes.

Paul reminded the Romans of this, and inadvertently us because he wrote it down and now it lives forever. “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” (Romans 3:23) This is a reminder for me, and now maybe you too, of two things. First, there is a standard and it is glorious. and Second, we all miss that mark. Everybody falls. You fall, I fall, our heroes fall, and our enemies as well. It is in our nature to slip up, so don’t sit in that for too long. It’s all about how you recover. So for today, I’m going to affirm you in the recovery process:

Affirmed: You are not your mistakes. A mistake cannot define you unless you let it. Don’t get so consumed by what went wrong that you lose sight of everything that has gone, and will go right. In those moments where the mistake seems so big, repeat this to yourself, take as many deep breaths as will stabilize you and take your Confidence back.

Affirmed: It doesn’t matter who saw you fall, it matters who sees you get back up. We all know what falling looks and feels like, because we all do it. But think about the people who inspire you the most. It’s not the ones who fall with grace, but the ones who get back up with dignity. We can’t always control how we fall. Sometimes it’s ugly, and messy, and damaging. But we can absolutely control how we rise from those ashes. Let people see that. Stop trying to hide behind a false perception of perfection and let people see your human side and possibly learn how to get back up themselves.

Affirmed: You are loved, flaws and all. People don’t stop loving you because you make a mistake. If they do, I question if they loved you to begin with. There is so much grace in this world we only have to ask for it. God has allowed us to fall and get back up so many times… if that isn’t love I don’t know what is. And be careful about deciding someone doesn’t love you because they don’t stick around for your rise. Make sure you’re looking at how many times you’ve fallen and how they’ve supported you in the past and remember that burnout is real. Sometimes we do have to love and be loved from a distance while we get ourselves together.

So go into this day and the next month affirmed that you, human, can handle making a mistake. We all make them, you are not your mistakes, let them see you get back up, and most importantly you are loved. I’m definitely in that group of folks who love you. Cherish that. Go in peace, human, and keep conquering daily!