"For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity" (Proverbs 24:16 NIV).

A righteous man (one who trusts God's provision to be put in a right relationship with Himself) will still experience failure in this life. The writer of Proverbs lets us in on the fact: "for though a righteous man falls seven times (a Hebrew expression that most likely means 'many' or 'a sufficient amount' of times) he rises again" (Proverbs 24:16).

One of the first things a ski instructor will teach a beginning skier is how to fall. If you ski, you will fall. When you do fall, the objective is to fall in such a way as to be able to get back up again. The Christian life puts us on some rugged terrain. We will experience fallings and failures. How we respond to these failures will determine whether we rebound and get moving or get stuck in self pity, frustration and anger.

The Apostle John teaches the essentials about appropriating God's grace. In his first epistle he admonishes believers to 'get real'. The truth is that we fail more often than we are ready to admit. If we give place to God's word we will be oriented to the realities of human failure and divine grace. "If we claim we have not sinned, we make him (God) out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." (1John 1:10). To acknowledge that we fail regularly is not a popular practice in a culture obsessed with personal success, goal achievement, human potential and self-actualization.

Confession is good for the soul. The word 'confession' in the Greek is 'homologeo' meaning 'to say the same thing'. To confess means to agree with God; become truthful and real. This means more than agreeing with God that we have failed. It means that we agree with God's provision to secure our forgiveness and restoration. We agree with the fact that God has done something wonderfully sufficient to clear our record of wrongs. The blood of Jesus has been shed to fully satisfy the righteous demands of God's holy law on our behalf. Our sin debt has been paid in full. Now we have access to God as His child. He loves us with the same love that He has towards His Son Jesus. He wants us to share in all of the privileges that belong to His Son.

"If we confess (lit. 'say the same thing God says about') our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1John 1:9). God's character is faithful (consistent and reliable) and just (It honors the blood of Jesus which legally secures our forgiveness). If we want to get up again when we fall we must learn to confess the truth about God's provision for forgiveness and cleansing (the sacrifice of Jesus) as well as our failure. We must claim by faith His power for righteous living (His Indwelling life through the Holy Spirit).

We sometimes struggle to receive God's love and forgiveness. Because of our personalities and our upbringing, we might find it difficult to empty our minds of the old scripts and recordings that bury our spirits in self-condemnation. We say, "If you really knew me, you would not like me," but God says, "I know all your horror stories, and I love you unconditionally, believe in you thoroughly."

What determines our growth as Christians is our response to falling. Do we get back up when we fall? Do we rebound in faith or sit in our failure and wallow in self-pity? Do we lament our own wickedness or agree with God's righteousness? To walk with God we must walk in agreement (Amos 3:3).

Let us help each other keep rebounding in faith (1John 1:7; Ecclesiastes 4:10),