All people have some kind of flaw. Maybe you get angry quickly. Maybe you speak too quickly. Perhaps you have an eye that wanders and looks in the wrong direction. Maybe you do what you shouldn’t do, or maybe you don’t do what you should do.

At some point, we all do wrong and step over the boundaries. Some accidentally fall over it, while others play on the other side often or as much as possible.

When James talks about this, he includes himself. ² We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you’d have a perfect person, in perfect control of life. And we know there are no perfect people.

If there were perfect people, Jesus did not need to die on the cross for their sins. Because they have no sins; then their works could have earned them a place in heaven. Those sums do not add up; unfortunately, there is and has never been anyone on this earth who has qualified for the position.

We are all sinful. Thank goodness it’s out now because I no longer have to be ashamed. Even the people I look up to make mistakes too, and, in a way, I want to tell you: It’s fine. No one is perfect, and knowing this calms me down because sometimes my guilt can drive me up the wall.

Now knowing this, I can do one of two things. I can take the attitude that this is just how I am, and every time I screw up, I apologize and run away. But I don’t think that’s the right turn to take.

No, we should instead allow this knowledge to help us be stronger next time so that we can resist overstepping the bounds. Yes, we must know we will make mistakes; it’s human. That’s why we must steel ourselves for possible missteps and prepare for them.

If I know my blood boils quickly, I have to make sure that there is always a cooler nearby. If I know that my tongue starts very quickly and can hurt people, I have to put a guard to the side to prevent something from slipping out.

If I know that my eyes easily take their cane and wander and look at things that I know are not right, I have to make sure that I don’t get into situations where my eyes can look at what they want.

In his writing in 1597, Meditationes Sacrae, Sir Francis Bacon already said knowledge is power. If you know yourself and know where your flaw is, you can steel yourself against it. You can prepare yourself and make sure that the loophole, where you step into the hole and fall, is quickly closed so that you don’t fall into it again.

Use the knowledge not as a reason to slip up again but rather to ensure that mistakes don’t happen again.

Scripture
James 3:1-12

Reflection
What do your mistakes look like?
Are you OK with that?
Have you made plans not to step into the holes again?

Prayer
Father, sometimes I feel so guilty about my missteps. Help me identify my flaws and make a plan so that I don’t fall into the holes. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.