How to recover when you slip up

November 8

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

1 Peter 5:6

A lady in the produce department at a grocery store asked the store clerk if she could buy half a head of lettuce. He replied, “Half a head? Are you serious? God grows these in whole heads and that’s how we sell them!”

Finally, the woman convinced the man to ask her manager about the situation. So he marched up to the front of the store and told the manager, “Hey boss, there’s a crazy, penny-pinching woman back there asking if she can buy half a head of lettuce.”

It wasn’t until he turned around that he realized the woman had followed him to the front of the store and had heard every word he just uttered. He felt a huge lump in his throat. But then he thought quickly and said, “And this nice young lady was wondering if she could buy the other half!”

It happens to everyone. You say something you completely regret and put your proverbial foot in your mouth. And in that moment, you just want a way out!

This is why there’s grace. God often uses times like these to humble us by forcing us to apologize and ask for forgiveness. So if you’ve messed up by saying or doing something offensive, apologize and ask for forgiveness. Let God teach you humility in your mistakes and He will lift you up!

Prayer Challenge

Ask God to give you the humility to acknowledge where you’ve offended others so you can confess your faults and have your relationships restored.

Questions for Thought

Think of a time when you accidentally said or did something that offended someone else. How did you try to recover?

How might humbly asking for forgiveness in situations like that help maintain your relationships?

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