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Every pastor makes mistakes; every pastor has defeats. Mistakes are a part of life. Sadly, so is sin. Not even a pastor can escape Romans 3:23: ”All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.”
None of us are perfect.
The difference between successful and unsuccessful leaders isn’t that the successful people don’t fail. The difference is that successful leaders learn from their failures.
I heard a story years ago about a young man who asked an executive, “What is the secret of success?”
“The secret of success is the right decisions,” the executive responded.
“How do you make the right decisions?”
“By experience.”
“How do you get experience?”
“By making mistakes.”
I always told my staff at Saddleback to call failure an education. We did more things that didn’t work than did. That means I had a highly educated staff!
But the important part was we weren’t afraid to admit our mistakes and learn from them. The road to success is paved with failure. But what’s critical is this: We need to learn from those failures.
You can read a good example of learning from failures in Joshua 7. After the Israelites’ great victory at Jericho, they came to the little town of Ai.
The Israelites had just taken on the greatest, most fortified city in the land—and had a resounding military victory. Then they got a little cocky and presumed upon God’s grace. Joshua sent only about 3,000 troops into the town to capture it—and his soldiers were defeated.
But take note of how Joshua responded. He threw himself onto the ground and prayed, and God told him he needed to take care of a problem in the community. A man named Achan had taken some spoils of war when God had clearly told them not to; the entire camp was suffering because of Achan’s sin.
God told Joshua to act, and that’s exactly what he did. Joshua could have defended Achan and refused to confront his sin. Instead, he admitted that Israel had sin in the camp.
He allowed himself to be corrected by his defeat—and that’s a mark of a great leader.
The real mark of leadership is the willingness to say, “I was wrong. I made a mistake.”
But do you know what’s better than learning from your mistakes? Learning from the mistakes of others. It’s wise to learn from experience, but it’s wiser to learn from the experiences of others. We don’t have time to make all the mistakes ourselves.
Whatever you do, be corrected by your defeats and learn from the mistakes of others so you won’t have to make all of the mistakes yourself.—Rick Warren1
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When I was a child, my mother used to keep a pile of clothes to mend, mostly belonging to us kids, by the sewing machine, and she would patiently work on them every Saturday morning. I have many happy memories of sitting beside her and learning simple sewing and making doll dresses. But the most important thing she taught me there was one day when she said: “Life is like this mending I do every week. When something goes wrong, you fix it; then if something else tears, you mend it, and that is how you get along.”
Sure enough, as I grew up, I learned that life is not always like a brand-new cloth. It sometimes tears and it sometimes opens at the seams or loses a button. But like Mom taught me, we just have to try again, or apologize and try to fix the mistake we’ve made and forgive the blunders of others or help them to undo their messes.
Proverbs 27:6 says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” When I first read that, I was shocked. I had thought that being a friend meant only saying positive things and never criticizing or correcting anyone. I learned I could gain through listening to reproof from the people I knew loved me, like well-meaning friends, my husband, brothers and sisters, and my own grown children.
I realized that to grow spiritually we need input from all sources and that we should listen to good advice and meditate on it for a while, rather than rejecting it out of pride. We can also try to counsel loved ones against continuing on a path that we know by experience will only lead to defeat and heartbreak.
When driving, it is much easier to see the lights from another car than to see our own. The same is true of our own weaknesses and shortcomings. Faithful friends will help us see them and improve. Then we will grow spiritually and become more of what God knows we are capable of being. We will also feel happier and more fulfilled as time goes on, like passing exams in school and moving on to higher grades.
So when something goes wrong, don’t despair. There is always room for improvement. God is in the second-chance business. The important thing is to learn from our mistakes, pass our grades, and move forward. Remember, when something tears, it can usually be mended.—Rosane Pereira
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Have you ever messed up? Like … really blew it?
I have great news for you: No matter what you’ve done, who you’ve disappointed or hurt, Jesus is eager to forgive you. Not only that, but He wants to help you live out your purpose in life. …
When you sin, turn TO God, not away from Him. God is not surprised when you sin. He’s not intimidated by your mistakes. In fact, He wants to be with you and walk alongside you when you’ve sinned. Through Jesus, we can receive forgiveness for our mistakes!
In the Bible, there’s a story to describe God called “The Prodigal Son.” In the story, a son asks his father for his inheritance and blows it on a wild lifestyle. When the son loses everything, he comes back to his father’s house. His father sees his son approaching and starts running toward his son and restores his son’s place in the family.
When you turn to God after you sin, God runs to you. He doesn’t reject you. He’s not annoyed and He doesn’t run out of forgiveness. When you mess up, the safest place to run is to God. Don’t run away from Him. …
When you sin, remember who you are. Bible verses about mistakes teach that God doesn’t define you by your biggest mistake. In fact, the Bible says He doesn’t even remember your biggest mistake!
So, you shouldn’t let your sin define you, either. There’s a difference between your behavior and your identity.
You are chosen, forgiven, pure, and loved. You’re a child of God. God created you on purpose and for a purpose. Our identity cannot be changed by what we do. …
Because of Jesus, our past mistakes are forgiven. Truly forgiven. It’s wild just how much God loves us and how far He’s willing to go to clear us from the stain of sin and past mistakes. ...
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us”(Psalm 103:12). …
In 1 John 1:8 we read that we can’t claim to be without sin or without mistakes. We must be honest with ourselves and honest with God about our mistakes. Then, when we confess our sins to God, He is quick to forgive. …
The best way to learn from your mistakes is to put God’s Word into practice. What does the Bible say about mistakes? Confess, repent, and learn the ways of Jesus! Study scripture and put it into practice by applying it to your life. …
When we mess up, to God is the best and safest place to run. We don’t need to hide from Him in shame. He is looking for you, wanting to be in a relationship with you, and He wants to make the wrong things right.—askaboutmyfaith.com2
Published on Anchor October 2026. Read by John Laurence. Music by Michael Forgarty.
1 Rick Warren, “Learn from Failure,” pastors.com, https://www.pastors.com/free-resources/learn-from-failure
2 “4 Things You Need to Do When You Mess Up,” askaboutmyfaith.com, https://www.askaboutmyfaith.com/blogs/when-you-mess-up
