Baptist City Blog

What to Do After a Mistake

1 Samuel 12:19

"And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king."

The story above is about the children of Israel asking Samuel for a king. Up to this point in their history they were a theocracy. Because they desired to be like all the other nations around them, they asked Samuel to anoint a king to rule over them. God granted them their request, but also showed them His displeasure with their actions. When they saw how displeased God was with their requests, they asked Samuel to pray that God would not kill them. They understood they had made a grave mistake and wanted to right what they had done wrong. Samuel gave them some advice on what to do after their mistake that will also help you when you make mistakes.

First, admit your mistake. God had to bring His people to the point where they could see their mistake before He could help them any further. When you make a mistake or sin against God, admit it. Don't give excuses why you did the wrong, but simply admit that you did wrong. When you give excuses as to why you did wrong you are not yet admitting your guilt. You will not be able to move further in the process of getting right until you take full responsibility for your wrong by admitting it.

Second, immediately start doing right. Samuel said in verse 20, "Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD..." You can see that they were advised to do right. Many times people will spiritually beat themselves up trying to right the wrong and won't do anything until they feel they have punished themselves enough. Don't try to punish yourself, leave that up to God. What you need to do is immediately start doing right. Don't add to your mistake by making the greater mistake of not doing right.

Third, start serving the LORD. God continues to say in verse 20, "...but serve the LORD with all your heart;" Doing right is different from serving the LORD. Doing right isn't always serving the LORD. Serving the LORD means you get involved in serving others. The easiest way to make sure you keep doing right is to start serving the LORD in a ministry. Though you may have made a mistake or have sinned, you still need to serve the LORD. Find a ministry in your church where you can serve.

Last, put your heart into what you are doing. Don't just serve the LORD and do right in actions, but put your whole effort into doing these things. God is always impressed with the effort of the heart. When God sees you putting your whole heart into serving Him, then He is convinced that you are sorry for your mistake.

Christian, you will make mistakes and sin. Don't be guilty of adding to your sin or mistake by doing nothing, but follow Samuel's advice so you can move on. You can't undo what you have done, but you can move on and do greater things for God. If you will follow the steps written above, there are still great victories ahead even after mistakes.