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Post by The Blue Collared Philosopher on May 13, 2008 19:53:51 GMT -5
Div i agree, the mistakes we make don't make us a better person, it is how we choose to change from the mistakes we have made that make us a better person.
Div, as you said, i am blessed, and i think that God showing himself to me right at the hardest time of my life really opened my eyes to his greatness and majesty. Ever since then, i have been trying to learn more about him. My pastor says something all the time that i completely agree with, "if you look to God and put him first before everything else, whatever else you do will fall into it's place."
Jeff, i'll have to look into those books.
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Post by Divides the Waters on May 13, 2008 20:24:40 GMT -5
And I have to admit that when I speak of my own errors, I'm not talking about character-building experiences, but irrevokable decisions that have had profound consequences for my life and others'. It's not the decisions that have been crippling, but the consequences thereof.
There are many times that I could probably say that, looking back, I have probably had my character improved by learning from bad choices I have made. But those are the ones whose results were not quite as cataclysmic as the ones that I was thinking of when I wrote my responses.
At any rate, I am always glad when I hear of someone whose testimony can be improved by the things they have gone through. That makes such a difference when witnessing.
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Post by themantheycallcris on Jun 21, 2008 2:05:38 GMT -5
i'd have to say i see it basically the same as Divides sees it, at least as far as moral choices are concerned. there's not a single sin that i wish i could take out of my past. as good as God has made my life in the aftermath of my sin, there's no doubt it would be a wholly better life if the sin had never occured.
things that are not a matter of moral choice... i don't really think about that too much. the bible says that today has enough worries of its own. in these matters, i think that asking what it would be like if things were different might possibly be the wrong question.
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Post by JC Lamont on Aug 3, 2008 22:03:39 GMT -5
a well-known evangelist puts it this way -- living in fear is being focused on the future, living with regret is being focused on the past, neither is what God wants. He wants us to live in the present. The past may be crippling, so then we learn to walk with crutches. Sure, it is easy to say, I wish I didn't have to use these crutches, I used to be able to walk w/o them, I used to be able to run, bike, etc.
But God turns all things to good for those who love Him, so there must be something that you wouldn't be able to do if you didn't have the crutches. Perhaps its reaching others with crutches who want to give up, and you can be the catalyst that helps them see learning to walk with crutches is better than just lying in bed giving up.
I certainly have made descions (one major one comes to mind) that I would take back in a heartbeat. If cost years of my life, hurt others and cost them many years of thier life, etc. In the very least, my testimony could help someone see the damage I made with my descion and hopefully convince them to not make the same mistakes.
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Post by Divides the Waters on Aug 5, 2008 23:02:08 GMT -5
That would be my hope, as well, though as Yoda would say, "Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future." My hindsight in regards to certain decisions is crystal clear, but somehow that clarity comes only from having severe myopia at the time of the decisions themselves.
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CastleLyons
Junior Member
Virtute et Fidelitate
Posts: 83
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Post by CastleLyons on Aug 6, 2008 8:09:37 GMT -5
My husband, a minister and a professional counselor, likes to put it this way: "People say experience is the best teacher. I say someone else's experience is the best teacher. If we are wise enough to learn from others' mistakes, we can spare ourselves a lot of grief."
We saw this in play while raising our two children. The older, a boy, would get into all kinds of trouble. The younger, a girl, would watch and see the consequences he reaped, and she would avoid those same mistakes. She's quite a wise woman now. (My son is still making some life-altering mistakes.)
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Post by kirstymca on Sept 5, 2008 18:50:50 GMT -5
Divides the Waters - Certainly it seems your mistakes have saved you from any danger of being self-righteous. Maybe if you had not made them you would be a Pharisee.
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