Title: Those who fear failure cannot succeed.
Contents
Sunday day sermon
Text: Matthew 15:21-28
Title: Those who fear failure cannot succeed.
It is said that even in the world, those who fear failure will never succeed. Because solid success comes from failure. Of course, there will be people who will succeed all at once. But when such people fail, they fall into a greater abyss. Because he has never experienced failure. Failure may seem painful at the time, but if you believe that you will succeed later, you will be willing to accept it.
Even in believing and following the Lord, those who fear failure will never succeed. The Lord knows that it is unreasonable for a corrupt human being to believe and follow the perfect Lord. That is why the Lord does not tell us to become my disciples overnight. However, as a corrupt man walks with the Lord day by day, he realizes how useless his thoughts are and tells them to let go.
Look at Peter with a fiery personality! How caught up with his thoughts at first, he did his own will, and then he got angry with the Lord. However, he was not afraid to be honed by the Lord and ran before the Lord and ended up being a terrible sinner, and eventually he was able to put down his thoughts and become a disciple of Jesus.
British entrepreneur Richard Branson said that those who fear failure will never succeed. The following is an excerpt from his book, The Naked Business of Business.
“People are very afraid of failure.
This is a very natural reaction, but it is also very strange.
Because to learn how to succeed, you have to make mistakes.
Think about the process of learning to play an instrument.
Watch your baby figure out how to walk.
See how a child learns to speak.
Skills such as walking, speaking and playing music
Through countless mistakes, it is gradually and gradually completed.”
He added, “Learning is about making mistakes and learning from them. Unless you make a few mistakes, you will certainly learn nothing or accomplish much. In that sense, not trying in the first place is a real failure, and those who do not even try and make no effort are real failures.” Richard Branson, although an entrepreneur, reminds us of many of those who believe and follow the Lord today.
Jesus also said to his disciples: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” “Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus” means to be prepared to die and follow Jesus. How easy is it?
Every human being wants to show himself to people. But the Lord is telling us to deny His existence every day and follow Him. And every human wants to live on this earth for a long time. But the Lord tells us to give up even our lives and follow Him. How many people on this earth will deny themselves, lay down their lives, and follow the Lord?
It is said that at the time of Jesus, the number of the Israelites reached 50 million. However, only 12 of them gave their lives to follow Jesus. Ironically, it is said that the current population of Korea is about 50 million. Among them, it is said that there are about 12 million people who call on the name of Jesus and become God's people. If God sends His Son again to be his disciple before these people, how many people will give up their lives to follow the Lord?
It is easy to say that both of you will become disciples of the Lord, but when the reality comes, most people will not be able to follow the Lord and everyone will run away. The reason is that you can't just throw yourself away. When believers do not know of their existence, they cannot eventually forsake themselves. Today, many people only know that they believe in Jesus and are saved by the Holy Spirit, but no one knows that they are sinners who have disobeyed the Holy Spirit.
To deny yourself and forsake yourself as the Lord said, you must first know what you are. However, most of today's believers only know that they believe in Jesus and are saved, but do not know that they are treasonous sinners who disobeyed the Holy Spirit. How can such people properly trust and follow the Lord? Aren't the Pharisees at the time of Jesus such people?
To become a true disciple of the Lord on this earth, you must give up everything you have. Not a hair on his head and not a single thread draped over his body must be his. This is because the moment he grasps even a single particle of his own in his hand, the devil takes advantage of it to rule over humans. So, the only way to solve all these things at once is to say, “I am a sinner before the Lord.” For the sinner must no longer be alive for himself. Such a person only lives according to the master's orders. Such a person can become a disciple of the Lord.
In the Bible, there is a woman who suffered from bleeding for twelve years. At that time, the unclean woman could not get in and out of the door smoothly. This is because if you wander around and get noticed by officials, you could be caught and executed. But this woman boldly went looking for Jesus. It must be a great adventure. If this woman had been afraid of failure (death), she would have died of disease without even stepping on the threshold of her house, let alone going to Jesus.
Those who decide to follow the Lord from now on, fear that they will fail in the presence of the Lord or make a mistake and be scolded, should not sit down and forget about it. If you are truly a sinner who has rebelled against the Holy Spirit, what are you more hesitant about before the Lord? The Lord will welcome those who come to see him as a sinner.
God has sent His Son before you to forgive your sins of rebelling against the Holy Spirit. Fear the Lord if you are not sinners and are righteous. But if you are a sinner, trust Him completely. Then he will welcome you warmly. When you do that, all your fears will disappear. And whatever he tells you to do, be obedient. Only then can one's self be broken and change.
Just as no flower blooms without being shaken by the wind, like no flower that blooms without getting wet by the rain, no baby grows without falling. There is no foolish mother who will stop learning to walk because she is worried about her baby falling while learning to walk. When a baby falls and walks again and falls and walks again, the mother claps her hands and rejoices. It is the joy of a mother to raise a baby who has fallen down. Please don't forget that the Lord is taking care of you with this kind of heart right now.