Just recently on a whim, I signed up my daughter for ice skating lessons. In order to gain some experience before her lessons, we first went ice skating together. To prepare her, I told her she may fall many times and that she would want to hang on to the sides. I also told her to not give up, because with practice she would become an excellent skater.

Skating for the first time, she did the predictable. She fell many times, counting every fall as an accomplishment! Also, she hung to the sides as if her life depended on it. By the end of our session, she was able to skate across the rink without falling. The best part was that she had a smile on her face and did not care that other skaters whizzed by. Watching her skate with determination and confidence, I had no doubt she was going to excel.

I believe that learning to skate parallels our Christian walk. First, we will fall many times. If we have not slipped on the ice rink, it is because we have never gone ice skating. I think that God places us in situations where we are faced with the frailty of our hearts, often resulting in mistakes. Our job is to forgive one another, and not give the idea that perfect obedience is achievable and, in so doing, judge those who falter. Secondly, just as there is no doubt that my daughter will learn to skate beautifully, in Christ we will be perfect before God.

What if I had pressured her to be careful? Or said that other people would think she was a bad skater if she kept falling? Or that her falling would make me, her mother and temporary coach, look bad? Similarly, what if our Christianity was reduced to telling each other to obey and avoid temptation? What if our greatest motivation for sanctification was the fear of disgrace of our Christian community? To take our sanctification as if it were the result of our own will is to turn Christianity into a religion of works, like others in the world, rather than one of grace. Such pride in our own efforts only hinders us from growing in our faith and robs us of the joy of final victory in Christ that is already ours.