The importance of failure
I read an interesting commentary in an investment magazine that is incredibly applicable to faith, our life, raising kids and our nation.

"So I just it's incredibly important to note that when you don't allow failure, you get more failure. When you take away the price of personal risk in your personal decisions, you get much more risk taking. So we are harvesting what we've sown."

I have had a series of conversations with folks about this issue with kids. From a school standpoint - allowing reckless behavior on school grounds - drinking on campus, cheating on tests, etc. If the punishment is a slap on the wrist, kids will be emboldened to push the limits even farther. Children push limits for a reason. They want to know there are some. They might protest but the protecting limits provides them with a subtle level of comfort they deep down crave. They instinctively are scared of the wide-open range - they know they cannot handle life with no rules, no boundaries and their instincts are right. They'll never thank us but you can almost see it in their eyes once they understand the rules.

I didn't drink in high school because my Dad made it perfectly clear - if you drink and I catch you, I will sell your car and you'll not drive again. I had saved my money to buy a portion of my car so this was a real threat. He also made it clear to not fool myself into thinking he didn't mean it. I knew he meant it. I knew there were boundaries and to this day, I am so grateful for his loving boundaries. He made me fully understand that there was a price to my decisions and understanding that, I didn't take the risks. Without the risk of loss, I would have tested the limits.

Oftentimes schools will fall back on honor codes as preventive measures to stop this kind of behavior. While I understand why we have honor codes -- that doesn't mean the teachers/administrators/parents shouldn't watch kids like hawks. We have speed limits in America and we are supposed to follow the honor code and not speed but we also have a police force to make sure we don't...to protect us from our own nature.

The Bible is full of God's loving boundaries on man. God knows. He knows our nature and he knows the enemy. He knows we will push the boundaries to see what we can get away with and in so doing, we ignore the possible cost.

Proverbs 7. If you haven't read this passage - I suggest you do. It is a powerful passage.

A wise man looks out his window down on the street below. He sees a younger man walking down the street and farther down the street, he sees a woman waiting on him. The lamb headed for the slaughter. The young man is walking down the street and sees the seductive woman looking at him, waiting for him. He thinks, 'Man, she digs me'. In his head he is hearing the song "Born to be wild". In the wise man's head watching all this transpire, he is hearing the soundtrack to "Jaws" playing.

The wise man knows what is about to happen. The young man, blind to his lust and ego, just sees the bounty -- he doesn't see the cost or the consequences of what is about to transpire. The woman seduces him and says "my husband is away for a long journey and I have prepared my bed. We can make love all night long and enjoy ourselves." All of this plays to the young man's sense of self - this is all about "me", she wants "me", "I'm" the only one, she'll cheat on her husband just to be with "me".

This young man was headed down the wrong path. Death and destruction lay in wait for him along this path. The wise man, having seen this over and over shouts "go the other way, avoid her at all cost!" The lamb is led to the slaughter. Read the passage.

God allows us to have failures for a reason - they show us our weakness, we learn valuable lessons and we see our utter dependence on Him. With no "cost" to our sin, we would be emboldened to reach for even more and in so doing, pull ourselves even farther from God. Thankfully, God knows us intimately. He knows the sin we are prone to fall into and if we seek His guidance and direction, He will steer us on a path away from the lusts of our heart.

This will make no sense until you have tried it...there is freedom - great magnificent freedom - in obedience to God. Thankfully He has rescued the slaves and set us free.

Soar!