What are some of the biggest mistakes I can make?

Acts 14:11-15When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in their local dialect, “These men are gods in human form!” They decided that Barnabas was the Greek god Zeus and that Paul was Hermes, since he was the chief speaker. Now the temple of Zeus was located just outside the town. So the priest of the temple and the crowd brought bulls and wreaths of flowers to the town gates, and they prepared to offer sacrifices to the apostles. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard what was happening, they tore their clothing in dismay and ran out among the people, shouting, “Friends, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings—just like you! We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.

Worshiping anyone or anything other than God is a fateful mistake.

2 Corinthians 5:16So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!

1 Peter 2:8“He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.

Ignoring, neglecting, or refusing to acknowledge Jesus as God is a terrible mistake with eternal consequences.

Psalm 44:21God would surely have known it, for he knows the secrets of every heart.

Psalm 69:5O God, you know how foolish I am; my sins cannot be hidden from you.

Psalm 90:8You spread out our sins before you—our secret sins—and you see them all.

Proverbs 15:3The Lord is watching everywhere, keeping his eye on both the evil and the good.

Proverbs 20:27The Lord’s light penetrates the human spirit, exposing every hidden motive.

Jeremiah 16:17“I am watching them closely, and I see every sin. They cannot hope to hide from me.”

Jeremiah 17:10“But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”

Jeremiah 23:23-24“Am I a God who is only close at hand?” says the Lord. “No, I am far away at the same time. Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?” says the Lord.

Acts 5:1-11There was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest. Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!” As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him. About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, “Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?” “Yes,” she replied, “that was the price.” And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too.” Instantly, she fell to the floor and died. When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened.

Hebrews 4:13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

Thinking we can hide our sin from God—or that he won’t notice it—is a mistake.

Psalm 14:1Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!

Romans 1:20Ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Denying God’s existence is a terrible (and foolish) mistake.

Genesis 3:4-5“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

Proverbs 11:2Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

Proverbs 16:18Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.

Pride is a grave mistake that leads to many other mistakes. In fact, the serpent used Adam and Eve’s pride to manipulate them into distrusting God’s instructions, which led to their sin.

Genesis 3:8-13When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?” The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

Genesis 16:5Then Sarai said to Abram, “This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt. The Lord will show who’s wrong—you or me!”

Proverbs 19:3People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord.

Not taking responsibility for our actions is a big mistake. It causes more mistakes with increasingly harder consequences as time goes on.

Proverbs 16:9We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.

Jonah 1:1-3The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.” But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord.

Running from God’s plans is not only a mistake, it’s futile. Wherever we try to go, he is already there ahead of us. Running from God’s call will only make our journey more difficult.

Numbers 13:25-29; 14:1-3After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported to the whole community what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had taken from the land. This was their report to Moses: “We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces. But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak! The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan Valley.” . . . Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. “Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?”

Job 10:18-19; 38:1-2; 40:1-5; 42:1-3, 12“‘Why, then, did you deliver me from my mother’s womb? Why didn’t you let me die at birth? It would be as though I had never existed, going directly from the womb to the grave. . . .” Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind: “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words? . . .” Then the Lord said to Job, “Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?” Then Job replied to the Lord, “I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers? I will cover my mouth with my hand. I have said too much already. I have nothing more to say.” . . . Then Job replied to the Lord: “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. . . .” So the Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning.

It is easy to begin doubting God’s work in our lives when we focus on the negative circumstances rather than the positive potential of God at work. When we begin to doubt God’s work, we begin to doubt God. To assume God doesn’t care about us or want what is good for us is a mistake.

James 3:2Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.

One of the most common mistakes for most of us involves saying something we later regret.