Nobody ever plans to fail in life.  I’ve never met a single person who made it their life goal to be a loser, die young, and go through life all alone and depressed.  Yet people do these things everyday.  The lives of people we love are are full of addictions, bitterness, loneliness, depression, shame, and regret.

I’ve been asking myself what failure would look like for me personally.  Not mistakes or mess-ups; those happen all the time.  I’m talking about utter failure.  If I don’t know what failure would be for me, then it will be difficult to avoid it.  Here are 10 ways to fail.

1.  Build a great ministry while destroying a great marriage

2.  Compromise my convictions in a moment of weakness, and lose my family, my reputation, and my anointing from God.

3.  See thousands of strangers believe the gospel when I preach yet watch my own children reject the gospel when they grow up.

4.  Preach on being spiritually healthy while neglecting my own health for the sake of the ministry.

5.  Be productive in my daily work while never working on my own personal relationship with Jesus.

6.  Spend all my money and resources on my wants while neglecting the needs of my brothers and sisters, when it is in my power to help them.

7.  Be efficient at training and teaching others in how to do ministry but lack effectiveness in preparing my children to live for Christ as His disciples.

8.  Miss opportunities to bless, honor, and support other pastors and leaders because I am waiting on them to bless, honor, and notice me.

9.  Never have fun because I was too serious about my calling, my preaching, my writing, or my ministry responsibilities.

10.  Grow old without the deep, abiding love and friendships that I would miss if I never took the time to invest in people, beginning with my wife.

What would failure look like for you?