Mistakes & Grace

If you were to ask someone how have they become so successful (because people totally do that) chances are they would say a lot of hard work.

I agree with that to an extent. Yes hard work is required to be successful at really anything, rarely do people have the job, family, talent, every single poster of One Direction without hard work. But one thing is missing from that....

MISTAKES!

No one gets anywhere in life without making some mistakes along the way, but that is good!

Allow me (like I need your permission) to share an example of my life:

The first position I held with my job at Olivet International was a part time Data Entry Associate in accounting. This is where I first learned of the magical application that you must know to do business. The all powerful Microsoft Excel. I made a nice chunk of mistakes but due to the kindness of my co workers I was able to learn from these mistakes.

I eventually transfered to the HR department as the woman that was preggers on maternity leave who's job I was filling returned. I was responsible for filing HR/Legal documents by certain categories that made no sense to me. Thanks to the understanding of my boss I was able to pick it up after some mistakes.

Eventually they had me do payroll (which meant I know how much people make and can be angry about it.... but shouldn't). This was a huge learning curve filled with...MISTAKES, but thanks again to the understanding of my boss we were able to work past it until I became more efficient at payroll than him.

This has now lead to me working for Synergy Group where I now add other companies to our payroll software and help them run payroll. I did not get this job because of my talent and knowledge, I got this job because of the mistakes I made and learned from. Mistakes that did not stop my learning or end my employment, mistakes that were not punished due to grace.

The two points I want to make with this story:

1. When you are teaching someone, even if it is a job you are paying them for, you have to allow for some mistakes. I am not saying let all of them slide without some conversation about it, but use them to help grow this person.
2. Realize how much of your own success has come form your mistakes and the grace that others showed to you to help you grow from them.

This now leads to my final point(SURPRISE! THIRD POINT!)

We fail every single day at this life that God has granted to us. 

It all started with Adam and Eve but we are the ones that continue to make bad decisions so we have no right to blame them as I am confident we would eventually have made the same mistake. 

We waste so much time in this life meant to bring glory to God and make His name known by making mistakes, and instead of letting us face our own fate that we have chosen  He sent His Son to die a real death on a real cross as the ultimate sacrifice, taking our punishment that we deserve. The ultimate form of grace for our mistakes.

Your whole life is built on mistakes and grace from others but how often do you realize that we are only here and able to live forever because of God's grace. We do not have anything today by our hard work, it is by grace.

What are you going to do with this gift of grace? I pray that it is something amazing for God's Kingdom.

My name is Matthew Worsham, and when I see people I also see God's grace.