( God’s Solution for Our Failures )

“[God] canceled the debt, which listed all the rules we failed to follow. He took away that record with its rules and nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14 NCV). 
You and I both blow it from time to time. 
We don’t have to live with guilt, but we do have to live 
with our mistakes. The Bible never hides this truth. 
It is painfully honest about the failures of its heroes. 
God saved the world from flood through a man named 
Noah who then got drunk, naked, and blew it all. 

Moses led the children of Israel through the Red Sea 
and into freedom yet his anger kept him out of 
the Promised Land. King David was a man after 
God’s heart but also had an affair and 
murdered the woman’s husband so 
he wouldn’t be discovered. 
God realizes our frailty.

If he only used perfect people, the Bible would be 
a pretty short book. But, God has a solution for our 
failures: grace. The Bible says, “God canceled the debt, 
which listed all the rules we failed to follow. 
He took away that record with its rules and 
nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14 NCV). 

In fact, if you look at all those failures in the Bible, 
you get a clear picture. Just like those heroes of the 
Bible, you and I are trophies of God’s grace. 
Your primary witness to the world around you 
isn’t all the great things you do for God. 

It’s how you handle mistakes you’ve made. 
Do you mope or do you revel in the grace of God? 
People want to meet a God who turns failures into triumphs. 
People want to meet a God who can transform 
the lives of broken people. 
The amazing part of God’s grace isn’t 
just his power to forgive. It’s also the strength 
he gives us when we start over.