Forgiveness: Moving Beyond Our Mistakes

In 1985, Coca-Cola introduced “New Coke,” abandoning the formula that had made it one of the world’s leading brands.  When the public reacted with outrage, the company rethought its decision and 77 days later reintroduced Classic Coke. Sergio Zyman, Coke’s chief marketing officer, was the man responsible for what is considered one of the greatest mistakes in business history.  Forbes Magazine commented, “If ever there were a failure destined to kill a career, New Coke was it.”  Soon after this debacle, Zyman left the company, but instead of giving up he persevered, became a consultant, and eventually was rehired by Coke in 1993.  Later he started his own company and became so successful that he was named by Time magazine as one of the three greatest pitchmen of the 20^th Century. Zyman has written that the New Coke failure “turned out to be a roaring success,” in part because “we were willing to learn from the experience and to change our minds.”  The executives at Coca-Cola put aside “company pride” and admitted their mistakes. It would be wonderful if humans, especially Christians would learn this lesson.  Many times when a mistake is made, people assume their life is over. This results in feelings of failure and guilt.  But the Bible says that if we make a mistake or sin that God is ready to forgive us. As a result the issue is not God’s forgiveness that stands in question but people’s ability to forgive themselves.  Many respond by saying, “I can’t get through this.” Others say “I won’t move beyond it.”  But God says we can and should. “Your offense as horrible as it might seem is not beyond the scope of my mercy and grace.” So if you are being hindered by past mistakes let me encourage you not to give up or to hold onto them.  Rather confess your sins and receive God’s forgiveness.  His will is that you get a fresh start by moving beyond your mistakes. There’s no better time to make the decision than now; by doing so you can move beyond the past into a sinless, guiltless life enjoying the beauty of forgiveness.