Series Outline What is it? What does it do to me? How do I kill it?

Secret Weapon Recap Fear – Love Discouragement – Humility Loneliness – Introspection Guilt – Acceptance Worry – Shame Temptation – Cowardice Anger – Burning Resentment – Mortality Doubt – Testing Failure – Difficulty

What is it? What constitutes a failure? How is failure measured? At what point does a failure (event) evolve into a failure (person)?

What is it? Struck out 1,330 times. – Babe Ruth – 714 home runs. Sunk 7 commercial enterprises. – R.H. Macy Re-wrote music when he was unable to overcome his awkwardness with a violin. – Beethoven Fired from a newspaper for lack of ideas. – Walt Disney

What is it? Teacher described him as “too stupid to learn anything.” – Thomas Edison Could not speak until age 4. Could not read until age 7. Teacher described him as “mentally slow” and “adrift.” – Albert Einstein Flunked the 6 th grade and didn’t taste true success until age 62. – Winston Churchill

What is it? Today’s giant is not failure itself. Oddly enough, failure is the attribute we’ll end up seeking. Today’s giant is the growing societal priority of avoiding circumstances in which failure occurs.

What does it do to me? YOU are a failure. – You fell down when you learned to walk. – You nearly drowned when you learned to swim. – You missed the ball before you hit a home run. – You fell over when the training wheels came off. Failure was your gateway to success. It taught you what doesn’t work and what to avoid in future attempts.

What does it do to me? Today’s giant tries to convince you to avoid failure…to avoid attempts…to avoid success. – Prevailing psychology is to not traumatize young children with the concept of success or failure. – In some cases, pop Christianity is unwittingly going along with that theme.

How do I kill it? REALIZATION We all sin. Every day. Yet… – Sin = Failure – Failure != Sin In our lack of perfection, we are giving God the opportunity to demonstrate His power in our lives.

How do I kill it? PRIORITIZATION Abandon the concept of counting your failures. There are really only two categories: – Some things are not worth risking a single failure. (sin and temptation) – Some things should be pursued, regardless of how many failures may result.

How do I kill it? Evaluate in your life which things merit an unlimited count of failures and commit to keeping at it through to the end. Such as? What in your life is worth 70 times 7?

How do I kill it? DO NOT delight in or judge the failures in others. – Beggars (Luke 16) – Tax collectors (Luke 18) – Prostitutes (Luke 7) Don’t console yourself with the comparative failures of others. – Be concerned that you’re not failing as much!

Kill Shot DIFFICULTY Is 300 pounds a good place to start on your brand new weight set? A lack of failure in your life may be reflecting a lack of application of your true talent and potential. Are you content with the way things are, or are you passionate about adding another weight?

Ultimate Failure Jesus Christ on the cross was mankind’s greatest earthly failure. Jesus Christ on the cross was creation’s greatest victory. Are you willing and ready to succeed for God by failing to the world according to its own rules?