Hilinaʻi #3: Give Up Or Get Up

I’ve been there. Where I messed up so badly that I feel ashamed to come to God. There’s been times where I would look at my Bible and think, “I can’t pick that up now. I’ve failed”. Feeling like running away from God would be better than coming to Him. How silly to think that I could ever ditch God?! My perspective on failing and moving forward has changed because of a few key verses and a couple history defining characters. Peter & Judas.

Both Peter & Judas walked with Jesus. They saw Jesus walk on water, feed over 5000 people, Heal numerous people, and continually outshine the esteemed religious leaders of the time. Both stood with the greatest man to walk this earth, and both failed Him. Big time…

Judas’ Failure: With the love of money as his bane. Judas was willing to sell out his savior. For a sum of money Judas gave the location of Jesus to those who were seeking to arrest him.

Peter’s Failure: Perhaps his own desire for safety caused Peter’s fall. After Jesus' arrest Peter followed Him to the illegal court hearing. Standing outside the gate people began to recognize him. Saying, “You are not also one of this Man’s disciples, are you?” Perhaps in fear of also being arrested Peter denied his connection to Jesus multiple times.

Look at the similarities between the two. They both stabbed Jesus in the back. Peter denied Jesus. Judas betrayed Jesus. But the difference between the two is how they moved forward after their personal failures. We can see a great example in Acts 1:15-18.

A few words here define Peter’s life as he stepped forward in faith. “Peter stood up.” He put the past behind him, received forgiveness, and continued in a life after Christ. So what happened to Judas?

Pretty gruesome… and heartbreaking… In Matthew 27 we can see that Judas attempted to hang himself. Here we can find that he fell and died. A man who walked with Jesus but was blind to God’s love and forgiveness.

Could Judas really be forgiven? Yes. Of course. Jesus paid the price for Judas, for the soldiers that nailed him to the cross, and for the Pharisees that stirred a crowd to shout “Crucify Him”. Most importantly He died for us. For the wrong we have done.

Romans 3:23 states,

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

You’re not alone. You’re not the only one to have let God down. We all have. So the question is how do we all move forward? We move forward with the correct perception between conviction and condemnation.

My original outlook on moving forward was based in condemnation. Thinking I’m not worthy of picking up God’s word again. It put me in a hole. Now my perception on moving forward is based in conviction. I know I’ve done wrong, but I am convicted to bring it before Jesus and ask for forgiveness. The Bible tells us there is “No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

So when you fail, when you let God down, you have a choice. You can be like Judas and “fall down”, or be like Peter and “stand up”. Don’t feel trapped by your sin, bring it to Jesus and find forgiveness from a loving Savior. He doesn’t want you to walk away, he want’s you to run head over heels towards His grace. Be encouraged today knowing no matter what you have done, or even what you will do, God will still love you. E Makua Lani, our heavenly Father is truly a good God. Don’t give up, get up!

My hope is that Hilinaʻi: The Believer’s Blog will be a way I can share what God has done in my life, and what God is doing right now! If you’ve stumbled across this and have any questions or thoughts please reach out to us! We hope to connect with you!

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