All of us need mercy … including preachers.

Mercy is required because we all have missed God, failed, fallen, and broken His commandments. When we recognize our failure, we can easily become discouraged. We may think: I’ll never be good enough. I’ll never measure up.

We look at our failures and wonder, “How can God ever use me?”

But what we don’t realize is that it’s not about us, it’s about God’s grace and His ability to take people who have failed and use them for His glory. Think about the great heroes of faith. Abraham, Moses, Peter, and Paul, for example, were all people who failed miserably. And yet they became world changers.

For ministers of the Gospel, the battle in the mind can be intense, when we recognize that our speech and actions affect only us, but also those under our care. James says, “‭My brothers, not many of you should become teachers, knowing that we shall receive the greater judgment.‭ ‭We all err in many ways. But if any man does not err in word, he is a perfect man and able also to control the whole body.‭ (James 3:1-2, MEV)

We must realize that the Christian life can only be lived by faith in what Jesus did on the cross and a recognition of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We must look to Him and be saved rather than spending our whole lives looking at our own weaknesses and condemning ourselves.

I shared this message at the Pastors’ Conference at Holy Life Tabernacle in Brookings, South Dakota. For more information about the church and the semi-annual pastors’ conference, visit www.holylifetabernacle.com. I highly recommend this semi-annual pastors’ conference. It is open to pastors and missionaries of all denominations or streams.

Grace, mercy, and peace to you, in Jesus’ name.

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