Sermon

Questions

• Why do I sometimes tolerate failure in others but cannot tolerate failure in myself?
• If I cannot tolerate failure, how many of life’s opportunities do I allow to pass by without taking the challenge?
• How much different would my life be if I did not fear failure?

Who said this?

• I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career.
• I have lost almost 300 games.
• On 26 occasions, I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and missed.
• I have failed over and over and over again in my life.

“And that is why…
I succeed.”
 
Everyone experiences  failure.
 
The Performance Trap:

I must meet certain standards to feel good about myself.
 
Colossians 2:8

“See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”
 
 
Consciously or unconsciously, all of us experience the feeling that we have to meet certain standards to attain self -worth and significance. 

    Failure threatens our security and significance.
 

Result of the Performance Trap:

UNHEALTHY FEAR OF FAILURE

Responses to the Fear of Failure

    * Perfectionists’ Tendencies
          o Mood swings
          o React defensively to criticism
          o Want control in most situations
          o Justify control, “I just like to see things done well.”
          o Base self-worth on ability to accomplish goals

          Failure is a threat and totally unacceptable to perfectionists.

    * Underachievers tend to:
          o Suffer from despair and hopelessness because they consistently fail to meet their expectations.
          o Rarely expect to achieve anything.
          o Rarely feel good about themselves.
          o Interpret failures as an accurate reflection of their worthlessness.
          o Fearing more failure, they often become depressed and stop trying.

    * Regulators tend to:
          o Have a set of rules for most of life’s situations.
          o Focus on their performance and ability to stick to a schedule.
          o Attain fulfillment by the efficient, disciplined and effective use of time.
          o Have a constant drive to do more, but their best efforts are never enough.
          o Respond to failure by simply trying to work harder and follow a more disciplined use of time in order to attain a goal.


     The focus of the Christian life should be on Christ: not self-imposed regulations and discipline.

    Perfectionists, Underachievers, and Regulators show the belief that they must meet certain standards in order to feel good about themselves.
 

Effects of the fear of failure

    * PERFECTIONISM
    * AVOIDANCE OF RISKS
    * ANGER AND RESENTMENT
    * PRIDE
    * DEPRESSION
    * LOW MOTIVATION
    * CHEMICAL DEPENDENCY
    * ADDICTION TO SUCCESS
    * IDENTITY TANGLED WITH SUCCESS
    * SENSE OF HOPELESSNESS
    * ANGER AT OURSELVES AND GOD
 

Summary of the Effects of Fear of Failure

• As long as we operate according to lies of our own making and of Satan we are susceptible to the Fear of Failure.
• As Christians we have the power provided by the Holy Spirit to lay aside deceptive ways of thinking and be renewed in our minds by the truth of God’s word.
  

Romans 12:2

    “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.”

Ephesians 4:21-25

    “Since you have heard all about him and have learned the truth that is in Jesus, throw off your old evil nature and your former way of life, which is rotten through and through, full of lust and deception. Instead, there must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes. You must display a new nature because you are a new person, created in God’s likeness-righteous, holy, and true.”
 

God’s answer to the Fear of failure:

JUSTIFICATION

Questions to ask yourself:

• When God considers you, does He deceive Himself in some way, or does He know who you really are?
• If you think of yourself differently than God thinks of you, who is wrong, you or God?
• How often do we allow our minds to overrule what God says is true?
  

How often have you used this formula? 

Performance + Others’ Opinions = Self-Worth

    This formula is wrong thinking!

    It enslaves you in the Performance Trap!

God has canceled this formula!
 

    God has given us a secure self-worth totally apart from our performance.
 

Justification:

• God, the Judge of the Universe, pronounces you “not guilty” of sin or failure.
• Not because of your merit or good deeds.
• You can’t earn it.
• We have been justified, made right before God, through Christ’s death on the cross, which paid for our mistakes, failures, and sins.
• But God did not stop with forgiveness, he also granted us the righteousness of Christ.
  

2 Corinthians 5:21

    “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”

    Fear of failure should not be the brutal motivation for our lives.

    Neither success nor failure is the basis of our self-worth and significance in God’s eyes.

    Christ alone is the source of our forgiveness, righteousness, significance, self-worth, and purpose–not our performance and others’ opinions. 
 

Romans 5:1, 2

    “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”

Isaiah 64:6

    “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we proudly display our righteous deeds, we find they are but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall. And our sins, like the wind, sweep us away."
 

God’s Answer for the Performance Trap:

    * God showed us how much He loves us and values us when Jesus paid the highest price for our failures.
    * Justification is God saying “not guilty” because Jesus paid the price.

    Your value and your significance, are solely based on God’s love for you.
 

GO Question