Written by Alvin Lee
When we make a wrong decision that leads to unintended outcomes, we call it a mistake. Mistakes can be small, such as leaving your clothes out in the rain or ordering food that is too spicy for your liking. However, some mistakes have led to devastating consequences.
Between 1959 and 1961, tens of millions of people lost their lives in the deadliest famine recorded in history, now known as the Great Chinese Famine. Historians regard this event as a man-made disaster, caused by inefficient food distribution, the enforcement of ineffective agricultural practices, and farmers being repurposed as iron and steel manufacturers instead. The staggering death toll left an indelible mark on the Chinese people and caused long-term political instability. If you think your slip-up at work was bad, imagine what it would be like to have the blood of millions on your hands!
All of us can relate to this word in some way. Nobody is perfect; we all make mistakes. The famed English poet Alexander Pope once coined the phrase, “to err is human, to forgive is divine”, demonstrating how universal this phenomenon is. For anyone to claim that they don’t make mistakes is, in fact, a mistake itself! In Proverbs 16:18, the writer exhorts us to remember that “pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall”. The first step to letting problems get out of hand is often believing they don’t exist in the first place.
This is the greatest strength of sin—its deception. Jesus referred to Satan as the “father of lies” (John 8:44), exposing how sin disguises itself as something good. We must be vigilant, not allowing the devil to catch us off guard, like a lion stalking its prey and pouncing when least expected (1 Peter 5:8). Christians ought to “test the spirits, to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1), rather than accepting everything and everyone at face value.
Another mistake that traps many people is underestimating the severity of eternal condemnation. I recently spoke with a church member who claimed he would rather suffer in Hell with his loved ones than strive to bring them to Christ. Such thinking is both foolish and naive—it is never the morally superior choice. Imagine the conversations in the flames of torment: “You never mentioned Christ to me” or “I wish you gave me a choice.” The everlasting regret of failing to bring ourselves and our loved ones to heaven far outweighs even the worst mistakes we could ever make on Earth.
My brethren, do not let Satan diminish the dangers of Hell. We must persuade our loved ones to abandon slavery to sin and become servants of Christ (Romans 6:16–18). The price of salvation has already been paid with the blood of Christ (Acts 20:28); all we need to do is share the good news.
In the end, mistakes—whether small or monumental—remind us of our human frailty and our desperate need for God’s grace. While human errors can lead to pain, suffering, and even eternal loss, Christ has already provided the remedy through His sacrifice. Our calling, then, is not to dwell on past failures but to learn from them, remain watchful against deception, and faithfully guide ourselves and others toward the hope of salvation.
Let us resolve not to treat sin lightly, but to cling to Christ, who turns even our greatest mistakes into opportunities for His glory and our redemption.