FAILURE IS NOT A STIGMA

FAILURE IS NOT A STIGMA

Text: Isaiah 43:18-19
Memory verse:
”“Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; For you will forget the shame of your youth, And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.“
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭54‬:‭4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The world is full of stories of men who failed at a point in their lifetime but eventually turned the failure into success. For example, the founder of Ford motor company, Henry Ford, failed many times before he was able to find his feet. Thus, he once said, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” Failure is not a stigma but an opportunity to learn and to grow.
Elizabeth Blackwell, the first American female doctor was refused admission many times to the medical school before she finally got admitted into Geneva Medical College simply because she was a female. She summarizes the essence of perseverance and resilience when she said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.”
The dictionary defines stigma as “a mark of disgrace; a stain or reproach associated with a particular circumstance or person”. If failure is a sigma, then these and all the Bible characters who failed at one time or the other wouldn’t have been able to rise up again. Solomon puts it this way, ”For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again…“ ‭‭(Prov‬ ‭24‬:‭16‬).
Failure is not a permanent marker. Even God does not see you that way. That’s why He forgives once you genuinely repent and forsake the sins ‭‭(I John‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬).
You are the only one who can turn the failure to a stigma. Although the world may try to do so also but the extent to which it can stand is dependent on your attitude towards the failure. Failure is truly subjective, that is, it depends on how each individual sees it. Failure is not determined by the size of the problem it causes, the amount of money or time you lost or by how much criticism you received from your employer or the people you are serving. Not any of these. You are the only one who can label what you do as failure and as a stigma.
Friends, God is able to give you success that will swallow up the failures of the past and make you forget the shame and the reproach of your past. Failure is never the end of the road for you nor a permanent sticker or a stigma. Hallelujah!

Prayer points
1. Father, please, help me to respond to failure positively so I can turn it around, in Jesus’ name.
2. Father, please give me success that will completely erase the failure of my past, in Jesus’ name.

Today’s declarations
1. I respond to failure positively and I don’t see it as a stigma.
2. If God doesn’t make failure my permanent marker, then I will not allow the world to make it so.

Contact: pastor@thf.org.ng