Own Your Mistakes!

Yesterday, during Sunday School at our church, I walked into my office to find a mixed up Rubik's cube on my desk and a note. The thing is my Rubik's cube was a completed puzzle with all 6 sides showing only one color. My first thought was the cube I saw wasn't mine and someone was trying to prank me. Then I saw mine was missing from my desk and started to read the note. The note said, "I am sorry. Me and Cooper were playing with it. It was my turn and I did it. Sorry dad." It was signed by my oldest son Dru. Now for most people they'd say, "Big deal! It's a toy!" For years though I've told my boys not to mess with that Rubik's cube. I learned several years ago how to solve it and once I finally did I've kept it as something of a trophy. Again, "Big deal!" Honestly I'm not bothered by the fact he messed up my Rubik's cube. I can fix it. What I am amazed at is the fact that he owned up to his mistake and didn't try to blame his brother for it. 

In the past, Misty and I have been regularly challenged as parents to get our oldest son to own up to his mistakes and not blame his younger brother. It has driven us crazy sometimes trying to get the truth of a situation out of him. But after some recent heart-to-heart talks with him, our son seems to have turned a corner and is starting to own his mistakes. To us that is huge. As a father, I am pleased that my child is owning his mistakes.

No one likes to mess up. We all want to do things right and not mess up. No one likes to be blamed or reprimanded for mistakes. That is human nature. So what do we sometimes do to keep the blame off of us? We "pass the buck". We shift the blame. In the worst of situations, we lie about what happened. The best thing you can do is to own your mistakes, seek forgiveness, seek restoration, and use it as a learning experience. The real lesson to learn from your mistakes is forgiveness, primarily how to seek it and how to extend it. It's hard to ask someone for forgiveness, regardless if its a boss, co-worker, spouse, or friend. But if we mess up, we need to ask for it. When we do our Heavenly Father will be pleased with us. It's even more difficult to extend forgiveness. We too often want to hold onto the pain and harbor a grudge. But that isn't the Christ-like response we ought to have when someone has messed up and hurt us. Jesus said in Luke 17:3 that if someone sins against you and they repent, then you are to forgive them. Paul advised us in Colossians 3:13 (NIV), "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." The right response to the hurt is to forgive as God has forgiven you. When we do we will really please our Heavenly Father because we will be acting like Him.

It is difficult to own up to your mistakes. No one likes to do it. But when we do we find the opportunity to seek forgiveness and repentance. When others seek our forgiveness for their mistakes, then we have the opportunity to be more like Christ and extend forgiveness like it was extended to us.


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