We have all heard the old adage that says, “I never make mistakes. I thought I made a mistake last week, but I was mistaken.” If you don’t make mistakes then you are not doing anything. Truth is, if you decide to step out in the ministry and do something then you will make mistakes. Character isn’t seen when things are going well. People see your true character how you react to negative situations. I have found 4 things to do when you make a mistake to help hold your character high.

1. Own up to it. Mistakes happen to everyone, why do we try to avoid credit for them so much. You don’t have to brag about your mistakes, but accept them as part of life and move on. We have two ways of avoiding credit for mistakes. First we totally deny it. This is not possible when it is obviously our fault. Of course when it is obviously our fault we have discovered a second option to avoid credit. We give partial credit to someone else. We use the term, “I know I messed up, but if Mr. Jones wouldn’t have done what he did then I wouldn’t have done what I did.” We need to own up to our own mistakes.
2. Make it right if you can. This is straight forward. Maybe it’s an apology, payment for something damaged, or fixing something. Be creative in how to make it right, and at the very least, try to make it right.
3. Learn from it. We have heard it said that the best teacher is experience, but truth is the best teacher is reflected upon experience. The only good reason for making mistakes is learning from them.
4. Be patient with others when they make a mistake. This is tough, because if you walk through these first three then you will grow as a person. The hard thing is being patient with others when they make a mistake; especially when they don’t own up to it, make it right and learn from it. Be patient with others and maybe you will help them grow too.

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