How did you learn to skate?" someone asked the winner of a competition. "By getting up every time I fell down," was the reply.

The Christian life is also a series of new beginnings, of falling down and getting up again. When we stumble, we often think, "I've failed again. I might as well give up." But God is the God of new beginnings. He not only forgives our sins, but He also uses our failures to make us wiser.

Sometimes our pride can cause us to resist starting again. In Psalm 25, David showed a heart of humility by praying for forgiveness. He asked the Lord to forgive the sins of his youth (v.7), and he rejoiced that God teaches sinners (v.8), guides and instructs the humble (v.9), and teaches His ways to those who fear Him (v.12).

John Newton, the composer of "Amazing Grace," expressed a similar perspective: "Though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor yet what I hope to be, I can truly say I am not what I once was . . . . By the grace of God I am what I am!"

Do you feel like a failure? Do you need a new start? Go to the Lord in humility, and He'll show you that He's the God of new beginnings.  — Joanie Yoder