Four Benefits to Admitting Your Mistakes

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES Better Together

Four Benefits to Admitting Your Mistakes By Rick Warren — May 28, 2015 “Admit your faults to one other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” (James 5:16a TLB) There’s a secret ingredient that builds community faster than anything else: admitting our mistakes. But why in the world would anybody risk honesty? Because it’s worth the risk. God says there are four benefits of being honest about our mistakes, our feelings, our faults, and our fears. Emotional Healing The Bible says in James 5:16, “Admit your faults to one other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (TLB). There is a big difference between forgiveness and emotional healing. If you need forgiveness for something in your life, all you need to do is confess it to God. Emotional healing comes from telling somebody else. A Fresh Start Proverbs 28:13 says, “A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance.” One of the most helpful things you can do in your small group is help people forgive themselves. A lot of people need somebody to say, “You’ve admitted it to God? Then you are forgiven. You’ve confessed it? Then you are forgiven. Let it go.” God’s Power to Change “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor” (James 4:10 NLT, second edition). How does this work? The Bible says that God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. God’s grace is the power to change. When you get God’s grace, you can change the things you’ve always wanted to change in your life. But it only comes through humility, and humility comes through honesty. Deeper Fellowship The Bible says, “If we live in the light — just as he is in the light — then we have fellowship with one another” (1 John 1:7a TEV). We think that if we’re open about our fears, hang-ups, imperfections, and secret faults, people are going to think less of us. The opposite is true! Actually the more honest you are, the more people like you and want to be with you. Many of you have realized, “My life is messed up. I’ve got some serious hang-ups, habits, bad responses, and bad relationships. There’s no way I could admit to all of the bad stuff in my life.” God wants to turn your hurt into healing. Then he wants to use you in the lives of other people. He’s just waiting for you to surrender. PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick. Talk It Over Is it sometimes harder to admit your mistakes to people within God’s family? Why do you think this is so? What are the things that you need to accept forgiveness for so that you can move forward to emotional healing? What does it mean to “live in the light”? Our Gift: 40 Days of Community Devotional We all have a longing for belonging! In fact, many of the purposes God has for your life can only be fulfilled if you work together with other Christians. This is why Pastor Rick wants to help you develop deeper, more meaningful relationships and the reason he created the 40 Days of Community Devotional Book. If you devote just a few moments a day, this book will take you on a transformational 40 day journey that will help you take your relationships to the next level and enable you to fulfill all of God’s purposes for your life. LEARN MORE Complete Audio Series (Purchase) Includes all complete sermons from the Rick Warren Better Together teaching series. LEARN MORE Series Summary Message 1: Why We Need Each Other Message 2: Reaching Out Together Message 3: What Destroys Relationships and What Builds Them Message 4: How We Help Each Other Message 5: Serving Together Message 6: Living a Generous Life PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST

Pastor Rick Warren

Enjoy today's Devotional? Listen instantly to the full radio message at Daily Hope Radio. Did someone forward this devotional to you? Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional. This devotional is based on the current Daily Hope radio series at rickwarren.org. Rick Warren has helped people live with hope and on purpose for more than 40 years. He’s the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California and author of several books, including "The Purpose Driven Church" and "The Purpose Driven Life," read by more than 100 million people in 137 languages. He created the PEACE Plan (plant churches of reconciliation, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, educate the next generation), which is used by churches in 196 countries. His radio teaching and daily devotional, Daily Hope, is offered across America. This devotional © 2015 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission. You can unsubscribe at any time by changing your e-mail preferences. Update your preferences  |  Unsubscribe