Keep Your Strengths in Perspective

[Keep Your Strengths in Perspective]( Current Teaching Series [The Miracle of Mercy]( [Listen to Today's Broadcast]( [Keep Your Strengths in Perspective]( By Rick Warren — 03/22/2022 [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email]( “If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.” 1 Corinthians 10:12 (NLT) Failure is part of life. No matter who you are or what your story is, you’re going to experience failure at some point. It’s part of living as an imperfect person in an imperfect world. The night that Jesus was arrested, before he went to the cross, Jesus’ friend Peter failed him in a significant way. Peter denied Jesus—not just once but three times. During the Last Supper, Jesus told his disciples he was going to be arrested, die, and three days later come back to life. Jesus said to the disciples, “Tonight all of you will desert me” (Matthew 26:31 NLT). Yet Peter kept insisting he would never deny Jesus. In fact, Peter said it three times! Peter overestimated his strength—and it eventually led to his failure. Overestimating your strength is still a common cause of failure today. You think you’re stronger than you are; you believe you can handle temptation. When people overestimate their strengths, there are dire consequences: Businesses fail, battles are lost, and spouses are tempted into affairs. You might think, “That could never happen to me.” But 1 Corinthians 10:12 says, “If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall” (NLT). No one is exempt. Given the right situation, you are capable of any sin, and so am I. When you don’t pay attention to your strengths, they become weaknesses. In other words, an unguarded strength becomes a double weakness because you have a sense of pride about it. Peter’s biggest failure, denying Christ, happened right after the Last Supper, a very intimate and powerful experience. The very area where you may have just had a major victory may be exactly where you stumble next. Resist the temptation to overestimate your strengths. Instead, keep your strengths in perspective so they don’t become your source of failure. [PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>]( Talk It Over - When has overestimating one of your strengths led to failure? - What is a strength you know you need to pay more attention to so it doesn’t become a weakness? - How does God’s Word help you keep your strengths in perspective? The post [Keep Your Strengths in Perspective]( appeared first on [Pastor Rick's Daily Hope](. [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email]( [Get The Miracle of Mercy Study Kit when you give a gift to support Daily Hope!]( "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy" – (Matthew 5:7 NIV). Mercy is the number one attribute used to describe God in Scripture. It’s the reason we can approach him with confidence—and it’s something he calls us to show to others. We want to help you do that by sending you Pastor Rick’s Miracle of Mercy study kit. Through his 6-session DVD and workbook study, you’ll discover the five marks of biblical mercy as you learn how to: • Forgive the fallen • Help the hurting • Be patient with difficult people • Show kindness to your enemies • And care for the lost [LEARN MORE]( [Complete Audio Series (Purchase)]( Includes 5 full-length messages from Pastor Rick's series The Miracle of Mercy. [LEARN MORE]( [Series Summary]( Message 1: God Can Use Anybody Message 2: God's Mercy and My Failures Message 3: How Much You Matter to God Message 4: Showing Mercy to Your Family Message 5: Being an Agent of Mercy in the World [PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST]( Pastor Rick Warren [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Linkedin]( Enjoy today's devotional? Listen to Pastor Rick’s daily audio teaching at [PastorRick.com]( Did someone forward this devotional to you? [Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional.]( As the founding pastor of Saddleback Church with his wife Kay, Dr. Rick Warren leads a 30,000-member congregation in California with campuses in major cities around the world. As an author, his book [The Purpose Driven Life]( is one of the best-selling nonfiction books in publishing history. It has been translated into 74 languages and sold more than 50 million copies in all formats. His book [The Purpose Driven Church]( was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the century. Rick also founded [The PEACE Plan]( to address five global issues—spiritual emptiness, self-serving leadership, poverty, disease, and illiteracy—through the power of ordinary people in the local church. You can listen to Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope, his daily 25-minute audio teaching, and sign up for his free daily devotionals at [PastorRick.com](. © 2022 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission. You can unsubscribe by clicking the link below. Sent to: {EMAIL} [Unsubscribe]( Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, 23182 Arroyo Vista, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688, United States