We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check….Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy….Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. (James 3:2; Proverbs 28:13; 2 Corinthians 7:10)
The Freedom of Honesty
Howard D. Schultz is an Jewish-American businessman who was chairman and chief executive officer of Starbucks from 1986 to 2000. When he resigned as CEO, the coffee chain was very successful. Eight years later, Starbucks was stumbling from a bad economy and intense competition. Schultz was called back as CEO to lead a turnaround. He said that before they could move forward, they had to deal with their past by honestly admitting their mistakes.
Schultz said, “When I returned in January 2008, things were worse than I’d thought. First, we had to stand up in front of the entire company as leaders and make a confession. We had failed the 180,000 Starbucks people and their families. And even though I wasn’t the CEO, I should have known better. I am responsible. We had to admit to ourselves and to the people of this company that we owned the mistakes that we made. Once we admitted our wrongs, it was a powerful turning point. We confessed our secret, let it out, and felt like a burden was removed from our shoulders.”1
Business, political, and church leaders frequently fail the people who depend on them. Likewise, family members and close friends often hurt those we love most. All of us disappoint God, our Creator and Caretaker. Christianity has the only answer:
God is light. In Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.2
We All Stumble
James was the Lord’s Jesus’ half brother, the son of Mary and Joseph. Christ has only God as His Father and Mary as His mother. Jesus is unique, fully God and fully human in one person. James was only human and grew up in Nazareth with Jesus as his big brother. James came to believe in Christ as Lord and Savior only after Christ’s resurrection.3 James was a leader in the early church, but he was still just a sinner saved by grace.
James says in 3:2 of his letter to fellow Christians: “We all stumble in many ways.” He is including himself along with the rest of us. The Greek verb for stumble is ptaió and it means to err, fall, trip, make a mistake, or sin against. James adds: “Anyone who is never at fault in what they say, they are a perfect individual, able to control their entire body as well.” Many of our sins involve hurting people with our words. Author Amanda Flower said, “Many things have been opened by mistake, but none as often as our mouth.”
James teaches us a lot about our words and actions in his short, powerful letter. And he recognizes that the Christian walk isn’t easy. He reminds us to humble ourselves and be honest before God and other people, so that the Lord will lift us up, forgive us, and purify us. James and all of the people in the Old and New Testaments, except the Lord Jesus, were stumblers. All of them failed at times. They were feeble, flawed, fumbling humans, just like us. Yet despite their failings, God used them. He was not surprised, so He salvaged them. These stumbling heroes encourage us to be honest with God and press on.
Musician TobyMac says, “I’m a forgiven stumbler, but never a non-stumbler.” I feel the same. Yes, Christians must strive to keep Christ’s commands and do what pleases Him, but we still fail frequently.4 The Apostle Paul sums it up well in Romans 7:24-25: “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” All along the way to Heaven, Christians still need to pray, “God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.”5
We Fall and Get Up
In the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, several athletes fell in races and other events. They reminded me of former figure skater Scott Hamilton, who won a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics. Hamilton is a committed follower of Christ who is honest about his mistakes. Hamilton said in a 2018 interview, “I calculated once how many times I fell during my skating career — 41,600 times. But here’s the funny thing: I got up 41,600 times. That’s the muscle we have to build in our psyche (mind, soul, or spirit) — the one that reminds us to just get up and continue.”6
To paraphrase Proverbs 24:16, “The righteous may fall seven times, but (with the Lord’s help) we will get up again.” Believers are declared righteous once for all because of Christ’s work for us. And we must exercise our spiritual muscles to get back up when we stumble. All Christians will battle sin as long as we live in this world. By God’s grace, our failure is not fatal or final. Youth worker Mike Yaconelli (1942-2003) said, “Accepting the reality of our broken, flawed lives is the beginning of healthy spirituality. We let go of perfectionism and, instead, seek God who is present in the tangled-ness of our lives.”7 Like an Olympic coach, God is with us in the struggle and guarantees that we will succeed.
We Must Return to the Lord
The Bible calls returning to God repentance. That’s not a negative word; it means coming back to life with God! Jesus said to a woman caught in the act of a scandalous wrong, “I do not condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.”8 Christ says the same thing to us. He loves us too much to leave us as we were.
Repentance is the Lord’s gracious gift, worked out in us by the Holy Spirit.
- He alerts us to our sinfulness
- He amazes us with the matchless mercy of Christ
- He moves us to grieve for and hate our sins
- He enables us to turn away from our wrongs and back to God
- He makes us desire and strive for new, grateful, loving obedience to Him who first loved us
God Upholds Us
Scripture says, “My soul follows close behind the Lord. His right hand upholds me.”9 What a precious encouragement! The whole Bible teaches that true believers are supported, sustained, and preserved by God (the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Jesus reminds us that we can rely on His strength. “He is the vine. We are the branches. If we remain in Christ and He is in us, we will bear much fruit… We are more than conquerors through Jesus Who loved us.”10 Knowing that God is empowering us by His Holy Spirit enables us to persevere, overcome, and keep on following Christ, even though we stumble and fall many times.
Jesus promises, “I give My followers eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”11
We Must Forgive Those Who Sin Against Us
We need mercy from the Lord and other people every day. So we need to be merciful to others also. Soon we may be the offending one again, instead of the offended. Pastor Thomas Adams (1583–1652) said, “Whoever cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which we need to cross ourselves.” Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”12
Prayer
Lord, only You are able to keep us from stumbling. Only You can present us before Your glorious presence without fault and with great joy. We repent of every sin You are showing us right now. Save us by Your mercy. Help us to endure until the end by Your ongoing grace. We praise You, God our Savior, for Your glory, majesty, power, and authority. We are Your sons and daughters. We praise You, Christ Jesus our Lord. We praise You, Holy Spirit. Keep us until the end, no matter how often or badly we stumble. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.13
Notes (various Bible translations): 1 Adapted from Adi Ignatius, “We Had to Own the Mistakes,” Harvard Business Review (July-August 2010), p. 109. 2 1 John 1:5-7. 3 1 Cor 15:1-8. 4 1 John 1:8-10, 3:22. 5 Luke 11:13. 6 Juliet Macur, The New York Times (2-18-2018). 7 Adapted from Messy Spirituality: God’s Annoying Love for Imperfect People. 8 John 8:11. 9 Psalm 63:8. 10 John 15:5; Rom. 8:37. 11 John 10:28-30. 12 Matt 5:7. 13 Prayer builds on Jude 24-25; Eph 1:12-14, 4:30.