Your Mistakes Do Not Define You

Unworthy… the feeling of not deserving respect or attention.

In other words, with all that I have done, can Jesus use me to further his kingdom?

Ouch…. just reading that makes me hurt and yet I know I ebb and flow with feeling that at times.

When I survey the history of my life, the good, the bad and the ugly, I can fall into this place of unworthiness. There is nothing I love more than sharing the wisdom that I have learned in my 40 years of parenting, and yet, when I pause and reflect on the parenting mistakes I have made, it can make me hesitate and question sharing anything.

Can people learn from someone like me who has failed, but picked up the pieces, learned, and is wiser?

Better yet, can Jesus really use me – or you – to truly further his Kingdom?

Don’t even pause when you ponder that question… please use your outside voice and scream YES!!!

In today’s passage Luke 5:1-32, Simon knew that exact feeling of unworthiness, as he spent a long, cold night in the middle of a lake using every tactic he could find to fill his nets with fish. He was a fisherman, so one would assume this would be an easy task, but alas, he was unsuccessful.

Then Jesus approached and encouraged Simon to release his nets just one more time:

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”

- Luke 5:4  

With what appears to be some reluctance, Simon does as Jesus commands, and clearly what happens is in no way what Simon would have predicted:

And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear!

- Luke 5:6

Can you just picture this scene? Most likely a cool, damp morning, and Simon and his buddies exhausted from fishing and basically coming up empty-handed. Enter Jesus, this man they have heard so much about who steps in and changes everything.

Simon’s response can be how I resonate with unworthiness:

When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man.”  

- Luke 5:8

What?! Simon please stop and  listen! Jesus didn’t ask you what kind of a man you were, because… let’s be honest… HE already knows! Jesus came to you, exactly where you are at, knowing exactly who you are and even now is going to ask YOU to further his Kingdom.

Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” 11 And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.

- Luke 5:10

Friends, can you resonate? Are you standing on a boat, feeling unworthy and asking yourself how can Jesus use you to further his Kingdom? When you reflect on your life, do you get lost in the memories of bad choices or mistakes you have made? Relationships that have failed, feeling impatient with your kids, estranged from family members, made the wrong job choice… etc., etc., etc.

Now repeat after me: Your mistakes do not define you!

Those mistakes turn into precious moments that allow you to gain wisdom, which, in turn, needs to be shared with the world around you.

Jesus knew full well who Simon was and yet he stood there on the shoreline asking him in all his brokenness to follow him. The part that always melts my heart when I read this scripture is the immediate response from Simon – without hesitation, and with what I imagine a myriad of feelings of trepidation, excitement, and joy – he followed.

I know the greatest weapon the enemy has is when our memory nudges us and says “Remember when you failed?”

But the cross has wiped it clean and you, too, can abandon that sense of unworthiness and follow Him.

Friends today, may I remind you that your mistakes or bad choices do not define you. These moments from your past have garnered you great wisdom that can help others seek Jesus.

And together, as we enter this holiest of seasons, we can ALL further the Kingdom for Jesus!

Pastor Heidi

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