I messed up

Thomas Jefferson lived by one principle: "Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching." While it isn't a direct quote from the Bible, the principle sure is! All the world watches to see how the children of God will respond in times of need, crisis, and even peaceful repose. Why? They want to know if you will handle life differently because Jesus dwells within you.

Intelligent people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge. (Proverbs 18:15)

Robert Half reminds us, "When one teaches, two learn." For me to teach anything, share any of the truths God has revealed to me, I have to learn them first. Do I learn them all fully before I share them? No, but when truth becomes alive to me, you bet I am going to share it! Be ready to learn, no matter the day or the hour. This is how I operate - when God speaks, I want to be ready to listen. How about you?

Do some of God's teachings come at a time when I am busy with other stuff? Yes, and if I don't slow down long enough to acknowledge it, I will lose it. If we go through life at a break-neck speed, we might miss more than one lesson God is teaching. We may not see the example set for us in another's actions. Are the greatest lessons always taught from the pulpit? Not hardly! Some of the hardest, but most profound lessons are learned at the moment we make the dumbest mistakes.

Remember: The 'teachable' do a whole lot of 'teaching'. What do others 'learn' from you? Do they learn of the faithfulness of grace? Do they see the wisdom of humility? Do they understand the importance of confession? These are truthfully what I would label as everyday kind of lessons. As we stumble through our day, we might find there are times to admit we didn't do things very well. Do we just do that silently, afraid someone might think poorly of us if we were to share it with another? They already saw us mess up - why not also let them see how a righteous man or woman deals with that 'mess up' in a godly manner? Just askin...