FOLLOW OR FAIL?

Follow or fail? Or fail and keep following? Jesus’ first words to the young man named Simon Peter were “Come, follow me” (Matthew 4:19). His last words to him were also “Follow me” (John 21:22). And Jesus made Peter—a guy who failed a lot—one of the main leaders of the church after He went to heaven.

Every step of the way between those two challenges, Peter never failed to follow Jesus, even though he often stumbled. His denial of Jesus is one of the most epic failures described in Scripture, yet Jesus still restored him.

How about you? Will you continue to follow Jesus even when you fail, knowing that God gives you the grace to get back up and follow Him along the road of this Jesus walk?

We are exactly the same as Simon Peter. One moment we tell God, I’m all in—I’ll never deny you! But the next moment, we fail Him. God knows us better than we know ourselves. He calls us even though He knows we can’t uphold perfection like Him. And yet He still tells us, “Be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

So how do we keep following Jesus if we know we will inevitably fail? Our great hope is in the fact that God gives us His grace for our mistakes. He has made us perfect through faith in Him and is making us perfect as we continue in that faith. Meanwhile, His faithful hand is working in us in both our failures and our victories over sin. (Check out Romans 6, 7, and 8 when you get a chance.) God also gives us His Holy Spirit, His Word, and other Christians to teach us from our failures and help us continue to grow in becoming obedient, joyful followers of Jesus who desire to live as He did.

Peter continued to get up and follow Jesus—even after denying Him many times and stumbling in sin—because Jesus Himself picked him up and said, “Follow me” (John 21:22). Jesus will not deny us, and He always wants us to receive His grace and depend on Him to grow through every mistake and victory. Follow Him, and don’t give in to failure or condemnation. Our perfect heavenly Father does not give up on His kids—Peter or you!