A mistake is not a sin. It's a failure in judgement. Doesn't everyone have failures in judgement every day of the week? God doesn't yell at us or think less of us when we don't get everything right. We'd have to be super-human to get everything right all the time, or angels. God deliberately created us to be limited, frail, fallible, human beings.
We've even made mistakes over the years about who God is and how God treats us. Some sections of the Old Testament seem to suggest that God has a "short fuse." Yet Jesus tells us that God is merciful, forgiving, a Father Who knows and values the very hairs on our head. God accepts us for who we are. All God asks is that we learn from our mistakes, that we grow, that we try again.
The best way to "get over" beating ourselves up routinely for our mistakes is to realize that God has created us to be artists, trusts us to be artists, and considers our lives to be our major work of art. If we look at the lives and attitudes of successful artists, we discover that they view mistakes as part of a day's work, and that they believe that mistakes can even be helpful.
Renowned violinist Isaac Stern, who was also a teacher, speaker, emissary, and humanitarian, said "It is only through failure and through experiment that we learn and grow." Isaac knew that he loved music, but the first instrument he chose to play was the piano. Finally, he decided that that was a mistake, and one day he picked up a violin. If he hadn't admitted to himself that playing the piano was a mistake, and if he hadn't experimented, he might have remained a mediocre pianist whose genius was never awakened by that violin.
Another renowned violinist, the Israeli Itzhak Perlman, who composed three of the musical pieces for the film "Schindler's List," recognizes that life and growth is a process. He said "There are people who are uncanny, who are finished products at a young age. I wasn't, thank God....When I came to the United States, I appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show as a thirteen year old, and I played a Mendelssohn Concerto, and it sounded like a talented thirteen year old with a lot of promise. But it did not sound like a finished product." To recognize at any stage of our life that our life is an unfinished-as-yet work of art takes both humility and wisdom - and optimism that things can improve!
Perlman had polio at a young age, and uses a wheelchair. He said once that he'd always wanted to play the violin, and knew that using a wheelchair wouldn't get in the way of his being a violinist - he'd just have to become a sitting soloist. Is it any wonder that he also remarked "You know, sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left."
There will come a time in our lives when we can no longer "make the music" that has seemed to be the most important part of our lives, or we have to adjust to making a different kind of music. Our lives will make a u-turn or take a detour. Perhaps our bodies no longer do what we want them to do, and we are dependent on the kindness of strangers. Perhaps we can no longer stand to solo, and we have to sit. But there is still "music" that we can make with what we have left. The spiritual music we can make then, the music of acceptance and surrender while trusting in God, can be the most important music of our lives. This music of silent prayer is the way we can play loudly with all our skill, and play a new song unto the Lord. Finally our trustful dying will be the piece we play as we dance into heaven.
Your life is the work of you, the God-appointed artist. Do not be afraid of making mistakes, or you may never find out the depth and breadth of who you are. Do not be afraid to experiment: experimenting will teach you which of your gifts, if used, will move you beyond mediocre to being brilliant. Above all, do not be afraid to let God and His works in your life be your greatest inspiration, consolation, and challenge. He's watching and waiting with great interest to applaud your Magnum Opus!