S. 3 E. 4 Your Biggest Mistake Might Be The Setup For Your Most Powerful Testimony

Your Biggest Mistake Might Be The Setup For Your Most Powerful Testimony

We all carry one. A decision we'd take back. A season where we moved wrong. A call that cost more than we planned. And most leaders do one of two things with it — they bury it and push through, or they perform past it while the weight quietly shapes every decision they make next.

In this series finale of Breakthrough Behaviors, Coach Paul names the thing most leaders never say out loud and shows you what God actually wants you to do with your mistakes — something more freeing and more powerful than hiding or performing.

In this episode:

Why God isn't after a perfect record — He's after a maturing leader, and why the size of the mistake matters far less than the posture of your heart in response to it.

What full ownership actually looks like, drawn from David and Peter — two men whose failures didn't immobilize them because they refused to deflect, manage their image, or offer partial acknowledgment.

The quiet warning of Saul and the rich young ruler — how partial obedience dressed up as surrender keeps us stuck, and the honest question to ask about the area of your assignment you may not have fully submitted.

A simple three-step framework for processing any mistake as a leader: Own it. Submit it. Move forward.

Scripture referenced: 2 Corinthians 7:10 · Psalm 51:10 · John 21

You don't have to carry the weight of every mistake into your next season. Your biggest mistake might be the setup for your most powerful testimony — but only if you stop hiding it, stop performing past it, and start surrendering it to the God who already knows how to build something greater from it.

Ready to do the honest internal work? Grab your free Daily Mindset Checkup — a simple daily tool to help you lead from the inside out: CLICK HERE

If this series has helped you, share it, leave a review, and tag someone who needs to hear that their mistake is not the end of their story.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I want to start today with something most leaders never say out loud in public. There's a decision somewhere in your past, in your business, your ministry, your relationships, or your family that you wish you could take back. That season where you moved wrong, a call you made that cost more than what you planned. Something that went sideways and left a mark you are still carrying. Most leaders do one of these things that I'm about to mention. They bury it, they push through it, they move on it, they never speak of it again, or they perform past it, showing up strong on the outside while the weight of it quietly shapes every decision they make moving forward. Neither of those is what God is asking for. And today I want to show you what he actually wants because it's more productive, more freeing, and more powerful than either of those options. Welcome to Build for Confidence, the podcast where kingdom builders rebuild identity, sharpen clarity, and lead with conviction. I am your host, Coach Paul Ibarra, and every week we're cutting through the noise to help you stop second guessing, start deciding, and build with confidence right where God has placed you. So listen, drop a review, drop a comment, hit that like, subscribe, all the things, and let's get started. So welcome back to the Bill for Confidence Podcast. Once again, I am Coach Pauly Barra, and this is the final episode of our June series, Breakthrough Behaviors. We started with thoughts, the mental weight leaders carry that quietly become the ceiling that they live under. Then we talked about doubt, the difference between a moment that is part of the process and a cycle that stalls the process. And last week we went after FOMO, how comparison hijacks an assignment without you even realizing that it's happening. So today, we close out the series with one that tends to sit the heaviest. You ready? We're talking about your mistakes and what to do with them, how to stop letting them write the forecast of your future and what becomes possible on the other side of genuine ownership. So as we step into point number one, the whole premise that changes everything is God's not intimidated by your mistakes. He didn't make a mistake when he created you. He already knew them before you made them. Because if he knew you before he created you, guess what? He knew that you were going to have some flaws. He knew that you were going to make some serious mistakes. Obviously, with me, why do you think Jesus came? To help you create a better posture so that no matter what mistakes you make, he reversed the cursed. And now you're able to step into the new plan and purpose that God has for you. He already knew that you were going to make those mistakes. I'm saying it again. You know why? Because I want you to give yourself some grace through this, because what he is after is not a perfect record. He's after a mature leader, and that's all he wants. You see, there are two categories of failure response in Scripture: those who own it and move forward, and those who defend it and stay stuck. So let's look at David and Peter. David knew he did wrong, but what did he do? He corrected it. He heard from the prophet Nathan and corrected that thing. He got before the Lord, worshipped him, and said, Lord, make this right. The same with Peter. Peter was like, Jesus, there's no way I'm gonna do what you're saying. I'm gonna stay with you and stand with you till the end. And just a few hours later, boom, he denied Jesus. Not once, not twice, but three times. But see, Peter was able to come before Christ on the shore and make it right when Jesus asked him three times, Do you love me? This is a representation of a good leader because he knew what he did. However, God did not condemn him, and God's not condemning you either. No matter your mistakes, God wants you to know that you're going to make them. God wants you to know that he's there to catch you. Because those who defend it and stay stuck are people like Saul and the rich ruler. They defend it and stay stuck. Saul stayed stuck. You get where I'm getting here? Stuck. Saul said, I'm king. Saul said, I can do the sacrifice. Saul stayed stuck, and that's why he didn't excel. The rich young ruler walked away. Uh, I can't do all that. So where are you at today? What is all this about? Because the difference is not about the size of the mistake, it's the posture of the heart in response to it. 2 Corinthians 7 10 says, For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret. Whereas worldly grief produces death. Godly grief produces something. Worldly grief just produces weight. And this is where you will continue to spend your wills. And this is where your confidence gets shaped in the wrong way. And this is where God wants you to excel because you were built for confidence, but the right confidence. You were built for more. You were built for leaving a legacy behind. And that's what all of this comes down to. So as we're wrapping up this series, your mistakes, they don't validate you. Your mistakes don't create a new identity. They're natural. We're all gonna make them. So let's look what ownership looks like. We're gonna unpack David and Peter. David, as we look at his failure and his response, experienced one of the most significant moral and leadership failures in all scripture. Like I said earlier, Nathan confronted him directly. God sent a voice before restoration could happen. You see, you've got to be chin-checked sometimes, you've got to be soul-checked at times. And sometimes the people speaking into your life are part of the assignment of God. He has sent them to you. So we can't refuse it. We have to be open to hear exactly what God is saying. But it's got to be the right person. So David's response wasn't about deflection. He didn't try to manage his image, and he had no partial acknowledgement. As we read in Psalms 51 and 10, he says, Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. This is where he comforted Bathsheba, continued leading, and continued growing. And failure, watch this, did not immobilize him. I've been in those spaces where failure immobilized me. And I'm sure you've had those moments in your life as well, in your business, or maybe even in your leadership. So as we look at Peter, this is the man who denied Jesus three times. He did it loudly, he did it publicly on the worst night of Christ's life. Deep conviction and genuine grief. He sat in that thing for hours upon hours and days. Then he said, You know what? I'm going back to fishing. I just got to get away. He heard that Jesus had risen, but he hadn't seen him yet. But here's where Jesus restored Peter. In John 21, Jesus asked him these three times, Do you love me? And by the third time, Peter was like, Oh my God, only you know. This is the same man who could not hold his composure in a courtyard and became the man who preached to thousands. You see where I'm going here? Whatever area you're in right now, I want you to understand this. Failure does not close the door on purpose. A refusal to own it does. And this is where God wants to take your business. He wants you to stop focusing on your mistakes and start learning from them. Because if not, here's the warning it's partial obedience dressed up as full surrender. So as we look at Saul, he was given a clear assignment. He carried out what was convenient, but kept what was valuable for himself. He built a monument to himself and then tried to frame it as worship. When he was confronted, he had words of repentance, but his heart was still protecting pride because his primary concern was his image before the people and not his surrender to God. There was no full surrender. And I know that you, as a kingdom business owner, are after the heart of God. So let us not be like the rich young ruler. It wasn't about his past failure, it was about present unwillingness. Jesus put his finger on the one thing standing between him and full obedience, his money. He walked away grieved, not because he was asked the unreasonable thing, but because what mattered to him the most was challenged. So here's the distinguishing factor repentance that surrenders versus acknowledgement that preserves. So here's your business and ministry application. Sometimes a strategy underperforms, not because it's wrong, but because something has not been fully submitted. So here's the honest question. Is there an area of this assignment in your business where you've given God partial obedience? I want you to sit in that for a moment. That's an honest question. A very honest question. So sit with that. But see, here's what I want you to understand too. This is where God's grace comes in. This is how you move forward. God restores what is genuinely surrendered to Him, not for accolades, not for other people, but to Him. And I'm going to share three ways that you can make things better. This is a three-step framework for your processing a mistake as a leader. Number one, own it. Number two, don't deflect it. Number three, don't try to manage your image. Own it. Submit it. Bring it to God honestly and fully, just like David did in Psalms 51. I want you to really tap into that. And here's the last thing, move forward. Mistakes are not the end all. It's not the end of your assignment. They're often part of your development because adversity is going to build you. Clarity comes from obedience. Remember, you don't have to carry the weight of every mistake that you've ever made into your next season. Name it, own it, submit it, and move forward. Listen, I know we've covered a lot of ground this past month. Talked about thoughts, doubts, FOMO, and now mistakes. So I really want you to sit in this because these are four of the heaviest things leaders carry into every season. And four areas where breakthrough is available the moment you are willing to do the honest internal work. So here's what I want you to take away from this series. God is not building with perfect people. Because your biggest mistake just might be the setup for your most powerful testimony. But only if you stop hiding it, stop performing past it and start surrendering it to the God who already knows how to build something greater from it. So that's what the Build for Confidence podcast is all about. It's all about maturity, not performance, presence and not hiding with struggle, but walking through it with honesty and faith. So if this series has helped you, share it out. Tag a friend, maybe tag yourself, leave a review if you're able to. But we're going to catch you in the month of July. I love you guys. God bless you. Thank you so much for being a part of this podcast. God bless. I want to thank you once again for tuning in to the Built for Confidence podcast. If you have found value in any of these episodes, do me a huge favor, drop me a review, and also let me know which episode has touched your life. My passion is to help business owners grow, scale, and expand for the kingdom of God. So let's get out there, let's build our businesses, share this out, hit that like, all the things, and we'll catch you on our next episode. God bless.