¹⁷ He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.

John 21:17 NKJV

Many of us will say that Peter stumbled and failed in his faith when he denied knowing Christ three times. Something that we as sincere believers must understand is that God isn’t looking for us to be perfect today. If you are under the impression that you have to be perfect today, then you truly have set your mindset on the impossible. Let me ask you: why do you believe God gave the world His only begotten Son?

God gave the world His only begotten Son because He knows we are not only capable of sin, but we are already sinners. The Lord doesn’t want us to fall to eternal condemnation because of our sins. So, He gave His only begotten Son to help lift us up to glory – to righteousness. You are never going to be perfect while in this world. Inevitably, you are going to sin – it is unavoidable.

That said, you don’t have to give your heart over to sin as if you’re a hostage to it or have already been defeated. Peter was wallowing in guilt and self-pity after he had denied Jesus three times. Yet, there was relief in Jesus who personally restored Peter after His resurrection. Jesus would have never instructed Jesus to care for and tend to His sheep had He not shown Him mercy and forgave Him.

A failure isn’t truly a failure when one learns from their errors and makes corrections. Don’t be worried about your failures when God is giving you opportunities to make corrections. Your errors are simply setbacks that help you to grow. So, in your errors, keep moving forward in your faith, trusting the Lord to lift you up from your setbacks.