4 Reasons Why Christians Fail

I’ve always felt a bit sorry for Peter.

He should have seen his failure coming. Christ had, after all, warned him that he would soon fail.

But like many of us, Peter managed to still walk straight into the pit of failure.

In reading Luke 22, I find that there are 4 steps that led to Peter’s failure.

If you’re trying to avoid failure in your life, take a look at these 4 reasons that Peter failed and avoid them:

#1 His Ego was Far Greater than his Faith

It starts out in Luke 22:33, or maybe it started long before that, but the truth is that Peter had a pretty healthy ego, and by that I mean that he knew how to talk big. Unfortunately, talking big and having big faith are 2 different matters. “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” It’s easy to tell God you’ll die for him if held at gunpoint. It’s easy to make promises f faithfulness. The test of true faithfulness is your obedience today. Are you giving Christ your all by faith right now?

#2 He Skipped His Time in Prayer

A few verses later in Luke 22:39-46 we watch Peter fall soundly asleep while his friend Jesus is agonizing in prayer. If you want to keep from failing, listen to Christ’s command in Luke 22:40 “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” You and I cannot afford to skimp on our time in prayer if we are hoping for victory. While prayer is not easy, it is life giving and necessary. Do you pray or like Peter, are you asleep in the hour of need?

#3 He Tried to Take Matters into His Own Hands

Ok. So far so good (or so bad…), but it’s only gonna get worse. Peter sees the enemy come to arrest Jesus. He faces a group of soldiers and what strategy does he rely on? Oh, yeah, the old pull out the saber and cut the ear off strategy. Listen, if you’re trying to win your battles with your own meager strength, you’re headed for failure. While difficult days may be up ahead for you, the road to victory is through utter dependence on Christ.

#4 He Followed at a Distance

In Luke 22:54 we’re given the 4th disastrous decision that Peter makes that ultimately lands him in the pit of failure. We’re told that “Peter was following at a distance.” As long as you remain a casual follower of Jesus Christ you are on the road to disaster. My pastor said this in church this week: “Biblical ministry flows from the central furnace of passion for Jesus.” That kind of passion for Christ is not found at a distance. It is found near to the heart of God.

Failure is an inevitable part of life. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you will still fail. By God’s grace every failure will be used by God when you turn to Him in faith.

In the meantime, take a lead from Peter’s example and learn from his mistakes.

There’s great wisdom in learning from other people’s failures!