Devotions with Pastor Blake Owings

Youth Group – Royals

Hey Church Family! We had our first regular youth group since summer started. I wanted to share with you our lesson we had last night about making mistakes. (This is adapted from Grow Curriculum)

Have you ever done anything cringeworthy? Have you ever said or done anything that made you immediately say to yourself “I shouldn’t have done that.” You might have felt embarrassed or wanted to crawl away and hide forever. People might think we are weird, or we feel like we stand out now because of what we’ve done. But what happens if we do something more serious? Like damaging a relationship, breaking someone’s trust, or saying/doing that thing you know you shouldn’t say/do. How do we recover from sin that feels unrecoverable?

Here is the good news. We are not the only people who make mistakes! In fact, scripture is filled with stories of people making mistakes. Regardless of how many people mess up God continues to reconcile them. We are going to examine the story of David to see how God works in his life after David makes a HUGE mistake. Grab your Bible and read 2 Samuel 11:1-27. In this story we see David using his authority as king to have an affair with Bathsheba. She ends up getting pregnant and David tries to cover up his mistake. It eventually leads to him arranging for the death of Bathsheba’s husband. But God saw everything and sent Nathan to confront David. Read 2 Samuel 12:1-13. David is sorry for what he has done and instead of trying to cover up his mistake more he repents and turns back to God. David writes a beautiful Psalm crying out to God asking to make him clean. Read Psalm 51.

What can we do when we make mistakes in order to be right with God?

• ADMITTING OUR MISTAKES: We can't make anything right if we can't admit we've done anything wrong. It all begins here — by saying to God and others, "I was wrong."
• ACCEPTING ACCOUNTABILITY: It's uncomfortable, but God can use other people to keep us accountable. Our parents, coaches, mentors, teachers, pastors, family, and friends might someday tell us difficult truths we need to hear.
• AGREEING TO DO BETTER: It's great to admit our mistakes, but we can't skip this step. We have to agree to do better.

We're going to make mistakes — sometimes - mistakes that hurt us, hurt others, and hurt our relationship with God. But like David, God isn't giving up on us. With Jesus, we can always be made new. Remember, when you make mistakes, God can help make things right.

Pastor Blake