I hate to admit it, but last week I forgot to do something that most would consider elementary.

Each week, I type up my sermon on Word, usually stay at it till I am finished and then print it off. Well, last week, I was almost done when I had to leave the church, planning to finish the next morning. The problem became evident when I came in the next morning and everything I had worked on was gone — I forgot to save it. Sometimes, I could have gotten by with this failure, but during the night, the computer had updated and rebooted itself.

I was so frustrated, but at least I had my outline already printed out, plus my notes and my memory.

I had a choice to make in response to this incident. I could either learn from it and change my behavior or continue to suffer the consequences by keep on doing the same thing.

Galatians 6:7 tells us we do sow what we reap. This is true in all areas of life. When wrong decisions are made, we have a choice on how we will respond to the consequences — either get back up and do things differently or wallow in self-pity, never change and continue to reap what we sow.

Proverbs 24:16 says, “For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again.” Why is this? Because he acknowledges his faults and profits from them, and when he falls, he will rise up.