"For the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity." —Psalm 24:16

Now there's something your boss and dad won't say very often—"make a few more mistakes, will ya!" Therefore we avoid making them. And why? They're costly. And because of the cost, we strive at all costs to avoid them, which sometimes gives way to a series of growing fears. Now a little fear is good, but too much of it can be paralyzing. And in a fear paralysis, we avoid taking action, mostly because we want to avoid the pain and punish of making a mistake. But don't infer this imagery onto God. He isn't a God of justice who can't wait to inflict pain and punishment on men who make mistakes. Rather he's a God of perfect justice who took the penalty for sin upon himself and for you. While human pain and punishment are inevitable, eternal pain and punishment are avoided in the justice of Christ in his life, death, and resurrection. And it is with this knowledge, men, that we "rise again." Empowered with the knowledge that every mistake we make drives us toward God's grace, to rise again and race into battle.

DO THIS: When you make a mistake today, rise again.

PRAYER: God, self-defeat will not have me when the truth is I have already won, and I must continue the battle as if I have.