Joel Osteen – Don’t Be Defined By Your Mistakes
I want to talk to you today about “Don’t be defined by your mistakes”. We can all look back and see times where we gave into temptation, we let our guard down and compromised, we were sloppy and didn’t handle a situation the way we should. It’s easy to be defined by one mistake in life, by one moment, by divorce, by a business that didn’t make it, by how we raised our children. The enemy is called the accuser, he would love for you to go through life letting that one mistake, that one bad season caused you to be condemned, where you’re not passionate about your dreams. But that mistake didn’t stop God’s plan. You may have failed, but you are not a failure. That was a moment in your life, that was one season, it doesn’t determine your future. Don’t let that mistake define who you are. If you go around wearing like negative labels “Divorced”, “Addicted”, “Failed”, “Compromised”, it will keep you from the fullness of what God has in store.
If you’re a baseball fan, you may remember the name Bill Buckner, he was a star player for the Boston Red Sox for many years. He had more hits than Joe DiMaggio or Ted Williams. One season he won the batting title, had the highest batting average in all of baseball. He was a great teammate, a leader in the clubhouse, but in 1986 during the world series he went to field a slow-rolling ground ball and missed it. It went right between his legs and the other team scored and tied the game. That opponent went on to win the world series, the fans were so upset so disgruntled, they never let him live it down. He became known as the player, that missed the ground ball.
Despite his illustrious career, despite all of his hits, all the runs he scored, they didn’t remember any of that, all they remembered was that one bad play, that one mistake. Bill Buckner passed away earlier this year, 33 years after that game. The first line in the National Associated Press article was Bill Buckner, a star hitter, who became known for making one of the most infamous plays in baseball.
People will try to define you by your mistakes, they’ll try to stick labels on you, remind you of all the times you failed, the times you compromised, the times you didn’t measure up. Sadly, some people will choose to remember your failures more than your victories. Like with Bill Buckner, despite all the good you do, despite the time you make sacrifices to help others, you’re honoring God, but when you make one mistake, when you go through one bad season, don’t be surprised if people don’t try to convince you to live condemned like you’re washed up.
“Well, God’s not going to bless you, you missed the ground ball, you went through the divorce, you gave into temptation, just sit on the sidelines”. No, don’t let people label you. They don’t determine your destiny, they cannot stop what God has ordained for your life. The only one that can stop you is you. If you let your mistakes define you, if you wear labels that people stick on you, if you believe the lies from the accuser – that will keep you from your destiny. And when someone keeps bringing up your past mistakes, trying to get you to live condemned, they may not realize it, but they’re working for the accuser.