Many people admire Kobe Bryant for his basketball prowess, but my admiration extends beyond basketball. I admire his resiliency. A few years ago, Kobe was the object of scorn and scrutiny because he had an affair with a minor. He could have given up on marriage and pursued promiscuity, but he didn’t. Instead, Kobe admitted his error, renewed his commitment to his wife, and has remained out of the scandal spotlight ever since. Kobe Bryant is a living testimony that we can recover from a fall.
David also had a great fall. He had an affair with Bathsheba, killed Uriah (her husband), and married her. David was so disheartened by his sin that he laid on the ground for seven days. He could have stayed down, concluded he was a complete failure, and resumed a life of infidelity. Thankfully, however, he didn’t stay down. David prayed for forgiveness, got up from the ground, and gave it another try.
Kobe recovered from his failure, so did David, so did I (plenty of times), and so can you. God has given us the power to be resilient, for “anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun” (2 Corinthians 5:17, New Living Translation). Don’t let failure have the final word; rise again, by the grace of God!
The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked (Proverbs 24:16, New Living Translation).