“As God’s messenger, I give each of you this warning: Be honest in your estimate of yourselves...” (The Apostle Paul in Romans 12:3 NLT)

    “Oops!” Yep, that’s a common phrase that comes out of my mouth. Those around me know I need to say it often. “Oops!” is that automatic phrase that comes out of my mouth when I “goober up” something. While my life is full of these “Oops!” occasions, a few examples will suffice.

    During the summer after my freshman year of college, I was taking an intensive second year course on New Testament Greek. My professor was a stickler for details, especially being on time. To help us with our “time integrity,” as soon as the bell finished ringing, he would lock the door. If you weren’t in the room and in your seat when the bell finished ringing, you weren’t allowed to be in that class session. One morning I was cutting it close. There was a heavy dew on the ground, but knowing I was running late, I cut across the grass in an all out sprint to beat the bell. I cleared the door just before the bell started ringing. I was hustling to my seat, but when I tried to stop, my slick shoes went out from under me. I slid across the front of the classroom scattering books, papers, and pencils at the feet of my professor. When I came to a halt, about the same time as the bell finished ringing, I stood up and gave the baseball umpire’s safe sign and sat down. “Oops!” Fortunately, the professor had my friends gather up my scattered stuff and said something like, “Mr. Ware, I guess it’s safe for you to attend class today.”

    Doing my first wedding in the first congregation where I served as preacher, I wanted everything to go perfectly. We rehearsed carefully and things went flawlessly the final time through the rehearsal. That night, I went over the service again and again trying to make sure I had everything down perfectly. The next day as the wedding started, things were going smoothly. The attendants came in right on cue. The father stepped back and the bride took the groom’s arm, then we all stepped up onto the podium. Just as I finished the prayer of blessing at the beginning of the service, the air conditioner kicked on and the vent was directly above me. The air caught my notes and carried them out away from the podium and the wedding party. They hung in the air for a dramatic second or so for all the congregation to see, and then they dive-bombed down and slid under the second row of pews. “Oops!”

    Now there have been many more “Oops!” moments in my life, but one of the more recent ones occurred two weeks ago. I did an article on servants and especially thanked those who helped proof read our devotionals. One problem ... I didn’t have them proof read that article. There were two mistakes that spell checker, the grammar checker, and yours truly missed. “Oops!”

Our lives are going to be filled with such moments.

    Our lives are going to be filled with such moments. “Oops!” is the basic cry and trademark of our human fallibility. Such moments are not usually sinful in themselves. Instead, they are mistakes, accidents, and goobers that are embarrassing. However, they become the opportunity for sin when we fail to acknowledge them as our own failings. For some reason, we often try to blame our “Oops!” moments on someone else or refuse to take credit for our mess up. It’s when our pride won’t let us laugh at ourselves and admit our mess ups that we blame others and our “Oops!” become awful and sinful.

    Let’s face it. We’re flawed. We’re going to mess up some. Our life is going to have a “goober up” or two more frequently than we would like. Let’s not let our self-absorption ruin our relationships and keep us from owning up to our messes. When we have an “Oops!” moment, let’s own up to it. If an apology is necessary, let’s say, “I’m sorry!” and truly mean it. If it is a funny “Oops!” then let’s laugh with others rather than getting our feelings hurt or getting angry. Learning to acknowledge our “Oops!” moments keeps us “real” to our friends and helps us remain open to asking for forgiveness when we have those moments that are worse than “Oops!”

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. (James 5:16 NLT)