“WHY WE FAIL”

18 “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”

Psalm 66:18

Spiritual growth can be a long, painstaking process, and each believer is expected to walk on the same path. But in our aim of becoming more like Christ, we face different challenges, and we sometimes fail. The question is, why?

In yesterday’s blog, we were reminded that teachability is essential to growth and fruitfulness. Let’s keep digging.

Failure: Reasons

A baby doesn’t walk the moment he is born. He has to learn how to move his feet, and as he learns, he stumbles and falls. But even when he becomes an adult, he still could lose his balance and trip.

In the same way, a new Christian is like a baby who’s just learning how to walk. Each day is an opportunity for him to grow, but he could face different challenges along the way. That said, even mature, experienced believers are not spared from trials.

What are some of the reasons we fail in our spiritual walk? Here are three possibilities:

When we downplay the importance of holiness.

The enemy works hard to distract us from God’s standards. We fall into sin because we don’t take holiness seriously. When we have a low view of holiness, it is expected of us to have damaged morality—we justify sin instead of mortifying it (Acts 5:3-5).

When we fail to develop our weak points.

Each of us has a weakness. Whether it’s alcohol, sex, anger, pride, or covetousness, we all have moral infirmities. Therefore, we have a responsibility to subdue these weaknesses by surrendering them to the Lord.

We’re not the only ones who know those weak points; the enemy is well aware of them, too. When we hide these sins instead of casting them on God (Psalm 66:18), we give the enemy a foothold. It’s only a matter of time before the Accuser attacks—especially when we’re unsuspecting and ill-prepared.

When we trust ourselves too much.

Confidence is good, but too much of it is essentially pride and thus dangerous. Pride ignores caution and gives way to compromise. The Bible reminds us that pride comes before downfall (Proverbs 16:18), and for good reason: it alienates us from God. It glorifies self in contempt of God.

These are just three of the possible reasons why we experience spiritual failure. But the more important question is, how do we bounce back? That’s coming up tomorrow.

Pursue the Savior today!