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Who
Defines You?
.
Joel
Osteen
If you're a baseball
fan, you may know that Bill Buckner was a star player for the Boston Red Sox
for many years.
One season he had the
highest batting average in all of baseball. He was a great teammate and a
leader in the clubhouse.
But in the 1986 World
Series, his error on a slow-rolling ground ball allowed the other team to tie
the game. That team went on to win the World Series.
Despite his
illustrious career, many fans only remember that one bad play.
When
Buckner passed away this year, the first line in the
Associated Press article was, "Bill Buckner, a star hitter, who became
known for making one of the most infamous plays in major league history."
Some people will try to define you by your mistakes.
They'll stick labels on you, reminding you of the times
you failed, the times you compromised, the times you didn't measure up.
Some people will remember your failures more than your
victories, despite all the times you succeed, despite all the good you do — the
times you sacrifice for others and go the extra mile.
When you make one mistake, when you go
through one bad season, don't be surprised if people say, "God's not
going to bless you. You gave in to the temptation. You went through the
divorce. Your business failed."
The only person that can stop you is you.
If you let your mistakes define you, if you wear the
labels people stick on you, if you believe the lies from "the accuser
of the brethren" (Revelation 12:10), that will keep you from your destiny.
You
may have failed, but you're not a failure.
That was a moment in your life, that was one season, and
it doesn't determine your future.
You can't stop others from putting a negative label on
you, but you can take it right off.
"I'm not defined by my mistakes. I'm
defined by what God says about me. I am forgiven. I am redeemed. My past
mistakes are behind me, and my failures are in my yesterday."
"God's mercies are new every
morning" (Lamentations 3:23).
"What about that failure?" It's in the past.
"What about that mistake?" It's covered by mercy.
"What about the divorce, the compromise,
the time you blew it?" That's over and
done.
Life is too short to let what happened in the past keep
you from the great things God has in your future.
Joel
Osteen
Raised
in Houston, Texas, with a loving family of seven and world-renowned parents in
full-time ministry, Joel Osteen never imagined that he would follow so closely
in his father’s footsteps. As a young man, his training and interests were
behind the scenes in television production though he was close to his father in
ministry.
"There’s
no greater feeling than being able to help people rise higher and overcome
something and feel better about themselves. I think that we’re all made to help
others, to lift people up.”
- Joel
Osteen
His
father always encouraged him to preach, but Joel would politely decline time
and time again until one day in October 1999 when his father was admitted to
the hospital with kidney complications. Joel finally agreed to preach the next
Sunday, and his father passed the following week. Joel’s first sermon was the
last his father ever heard. Joel and his wife, Victoria, were suddenly thrust
into full-time leadership of Lakewood Church.
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