What Will You Do With Failure?

• Have you ever failed? Have you ever failed to the point that you didn’t know what to do next?

  We are going to look at two people in the Bible who failed bigtime! Their names were Judas and Peter.

  They both failed miserably, but how they handled their own failure was dramatically different. Both Judas and Peter spent around three years traveling with and learning from Jesus.

  Picture this:

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  Judas

  Judas was part of the twelve closest people to Jesus. However, Judas betrayed Jesus in a way that eventually led to Jesus’ death. The chief priests paid Judas thirty pieces of silver to take them to and identify Jesus so they could arrest him. Their plan worked. Jesus was arrested and eventually killed.

  Judas had failed Jesus.

  After Judas realized what he had done, he was so filled with remorse that he could no longer live with himself. He returned the silver coins, ran away, and committed suicide. The pain of having betrayed the man who had taught, mentored, and loved him over the past three years was more than Judas could bear.

  Death was the only relief he could think of.

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  Peter

  Peter was also part of the twelve closest people to Jesus. He was possibly one of Jesus’ closest three disciples. After Jesus was arrested, Peter followed from a distance to see what was going to happen. Three times someone recognized Peter as a follower of Jesus. Three times he denied even knowing who Jesus was. Peter became so frustrated with people recognizing him, he even began to curse and swear.

  Peter had failed Jesus. After Peter realized what he had done, he wept bitterly.

  Peter repented of his failure. Less than two months later, Peter preached a message about Jesus (who by this time had risen from the dead and ascended back into heaven) that caused about 3,000 people to have their lives changed forever, eternally.

  Peter went on to be a leader, a biblical author, and a person who did great, life-transforming work for God.

• What made the difference?

  
  

  What will you do with your failure?

  (If you would like to read the stories about Judas and Peter in more detail, you can find their stories in the Bible: Matthew 26:47–27:10; Acts 2:14–41.)

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Tommy Lanham is an award-winning speaker, personality strategist, and world changer. He was a regional finalist for the 2019 Toastmasters International Speech Contest, making him one of the top 100 speakers in the world! Tommy Lanham is the epitome of enthusiasm. It oozes out of him. He’s obsessed.

Tommy is on a mission to break out of the monotony of the mundane and mediocre so you can break through to your ENTHUSIASM Zone.