What is your greatest fear? People can have different fears. This study will look at the fear of failure. Does it seem no matter what you do that you fail? We all have to live with failure. What we don’t have to live with is a fear of failure.

1 – The reality of failure (vs. 8)

Paul knew what it was to be knocked down. He was the greatest missionary but he had to deal with failure. Here are three reality checks.

• Everybody fails – See James 3:2.Do you know anyone who has never failed? It is a fact of life. You need to accept it.
• Everybody fails often – Do you know anyone who failed only one time? We all fail and we fail often. See Ecclesiastes 7:20.
• We will continue to fail until we die. None of us will stop failing. How many footballers score every time they shoot at goal? None is the answer. Does this stop them trying the next time? No! They have learnt to deal with failure and try better the next time.

See Romans 3:23. We have all failed spiritually. Successful people fail. Sometimes they fail even more because they try more than other people. E.g. Thomas Edison kept trying. Walt Disney kept trying. There is only one place where you can make no failures but you need to be dead! See Psalm 101:13. God anticipates our failures and He cares. See Hebrews 4:15-16.

2 – Our reaction to failure (vs. 8)

This is where the rubber hits the road. Notice Paul’s reaction to each failure. Paul failed but did not fall into the fear of failure. People love winners and not losers. We need to care more for losers. The fear of failure can be more dangerous than failure itself. You are not a failure until you quit. We should not be afraid to dream. We are to never to give up and not be afraid of failure. Sometimes we are going to succeed. This is true in sports like football, golf and basketball. Here are five reactions to your failure:-

• Acknowledge your failure – Stop making excuses or blaming others. It is not always someone else’s fault. See Psalm 51. David admitted that he sinned. It is hard to find a sinner these days! Acknowledge your failure and take responsibility to do something about it.
• Accept God’s forgiveness – Psalm 103:10. God does not deal with you according to sin but according to grace when you ask for forgiveness. Christians are nothing but forgiven people.
• Apply the lessons – It worse to fail and not to learn from the experience. It is an empty experience when you do not learn from a failure. It is important to learn the lessons of failure and not repeat them. This is how we grow.
• Accept failure as a fact of life and not a way of life – Failure is a moment. Don’t make a monument out of it! It does not determine who you are. God can bring you back. Peter had failed but Peter turned his life around and became a great apostle.
• Arise from your failure and start over – Get up and get going. Move on! God is a God of a second chance. You can start over again. See Jonah 3:1-2. This was the second time because Jonah messed up the first time. Jonah thought he knew better than God. If you need a second chance then you can get it. Jonah preached and there was one of the greatest revivals the world has ever seen. The whole city repented. God makes something out of failures.

3 – Our rejoicing in failure (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

God is teaching Paul something through his failures. One of God’s great educational tools is failure. See Psalm 119. We are to fail forward rather than backwards. Your failures can lead to success if you learn from your failures. You don’t want to fall backwards as it gets you nowhere in life. Failure can teach us humility. If everything was a success then who could live with you?! You would be full of arrogance and pride. It is the times that we fail that we can grow in character and with God. It is failure that brings us humbly to God. God is a God of a second chance! Thanks be to God!

Categories: 2 Corinthians