Screwed up, Try Again: Judas vs Peter After Failure

Ever messed up so bad you thought you couldn’t come back?

In this episode, we dig into the stories of two people who failed big but chose different paths afterward. One found redemption through faith; the other gave up in despair. 

Through a real-life struggle with repetitive mistakes, we explore how to rise after falling, no matter how hard or how often. God’s mercy is bigger than your worst screw-up. 

Join us to learn how to dust yourself off and try again. #ScrewedUpTryAgain. #HardyTalks #ChristianPodcast #Redemption #Faith

[00:00] When You Feel Unworthy: Understanding Repetitive Mistakes
[04:15] From Walking on Water to Suicide: Decisions After Failure
[09:19] The Tragic Path of Judas: Betrayal Leading to Despair
[12:14] Two Responses to Failure: Peter vs Judas
[14:18] God's Mercy: Falling Seven Times and Rising Up
[16:40] Practical Steps for Repentance and Moving Forward
[19:26] Finding Hope and Mercy After Your Worst Mistakes

Transcript

0:02

You ever screwed up so bad you felt like God wanted to abort you? And I know, I know that's colorful. I, I know that's, that's a pretty vivid picture there. But I, I'm talking about the types of screw ups, either big or repetitive, where you just feel like you're not worthy of forgiveness. You don't deserve it. These are real things people struggle with. It's every single day. It's I know it's happened to me numerous times. I know I'm not the only one. Let's be real here. Let's be real. I have this friend of mine who has always struggled with sex and you may laugh, you may point fingers, ha ha ha, blah blah blah. Look, your Bible preaches against it. If you're not married, I, I don't care it that's your Bible, not mine. It you don't have sex outside of marriage. But my buddy struggles with it. Some of us struggle with addiction to cigarettes. Some of us struggle with alcohol, Some of us struggle with coffee or doom scrolling on TikTok. But my buddy it's always been sex for him. Now before you cast any stones you better remember that Jesus saved an adulteress Better remember that the problem with sex is it's just So what? What's the word I'm looking for? He's just so taboo. Everyone knows the The thing is is every sin leads to condemnation but their self-destructive powers differs. Sex differs from doom scrolling on TikTok. Sex differs from addiction to cigarettes. The the and the sense of what does it do to yourself? This buddy of mine, I've seen him time and time again try to live right. He would go strong for a while. I'm talking about on fire for God. He would even use this place of business to teach about God, invite people to church. I've been there in front of and I, I was just amazed and you could just tell that he was on fire for God by the way he talks, he acts, his demeanor is different, but you always know when he started sleeping with sex because you can tell his spirit changes, his motives changes, depression starts looming across his face. You can tell he becomes a fraction of the man he wants to be like. You can see it all over him. It was almost mind boggling every time I've seen and I'm telling you I've seen it more than a handful of times with this man and it's amazing. Just the power sin has on you every single time. You could just see it. The sin he has struggle with is self-destructive in his spirit, his thoughts. It's even more powerful because it's a repetitive mistake. It's one that the world quickly throws stones at. Lord. Behold, if you actually didn't have a kid out of wedlock, you see every single sin is deaf. Deaf to your mind, spirit and heart. Have you ever had a screw up? You felt like it owned you. I'm talking about you messed up. You made mistakes and it owned you. My friend here, his mindset was always trying again. Always trying again. He knew he was wrong, but I promise you, if you've ever been in that position where emotions are flaring, you're you. You lose control of your thoughts and you're running off the the wrong head per SE. Forgive me for my colorful language, but you really, really can't think straight. And but my friend, he would always try again. And you know, that reminds me of the Bible. I want to discuss two guys that screwed up royally with Jesus. 1 rose, but one didn't. So we have Peter. You know who Peter is? Peter was the guy who literally had faith over fear. He was the definition of it. He was not scared of anything. He boldly spoke up when others were quiet, declaring that Jesus was the Messiah. And you have to understand how courageous that was. He would have been killed for such a claim by the Jews. When Jesus was sitting there and asking, who do you say I am? And he said, you're the you're the Messiah, you're the savior. If there was Jews around, they would have hung him to dry it. It would have been awful that the amount of courage to make that bold statement. Peter was also the only one to walk on water. I mean, you have to picture the storm that was going on. We're not talking about you step out into your swimming pool in your backyard. No, we're talking about waves crashing big enough to knock boats over. He, he was brave enough to step on that type of water with faith. Faith over fear. Have you ever stepped on a boat? Out of a boat, I know I haven't. I only step on a pool. I know what happens. My fat buddy's going to go all the way to the bottom and might hit his head. You see he also it's it's just so amazing. He also was so passionate and courageous. He slashed a soldiers ear off in front of an entire army to defend Jesus. In Matthew 2632 to 35, Peter states that he would never desert Jesus. He even said that he would die with him. Now that's some faith. That's that is being on fire for God. No, no doubt. But then but then we had his first denial. You see, Jesus was out praying and he was arrested and when he got arrested, it's the Bible says that Peter was Peter followed them at a distance, at a distance. So this guy that was so brave earlier, is he now potentially scared to get caught? So he's following at a distance. Context clues kind of backs this up because another disciple who knew the high priest went on into the courtyard with Jesus and the guards. Well Peter was falling out of the distance and he stayed outside to gate the courtyard. So the Bible doesn't explicitly say it, but it kind of looks like fear to me now because he couldn't go in the courtyard. He just waited outside by the gate by at a fire with some guards. It was cold out. Well, later a servant of the high priest came up to Peter at the request of the other disciple and she asked him, said, are you a follower of Jesus as well? And Peter without any hesitation, none at all, said, no, I'm not. No, I'm not. Well, that's crazy. I'm telling you, that's crazy. Hang on. Then the second denial came, another servant noticed Peter looked familiar and and she in front of the whole crowd at outside that courtyard said this man was with Jesus. Well, this time Peter was a little more passionate about it. He was like, I swear to God, I don't know this man. I swear he put an oath behind it is what the Bible says. Well, then the third denial, a relative of the man that Peter, he just slashed his ear off a few hours earlier. Notice Pete, notice Peter there and he asked, didn't I see you out there in the olive Grove with Jesus. This time Peter is ticked off. Peter went a step footer and said, I if I'm lying, put a curse on me because I swear to God I don't know this man. Then a rooster could be heard. We know the story. We know the story now at that moment, Luke tells us that Jesus turned and looked at Peter. You can imagine they locked eyes. You can just you can just imagine the look and of betrayal. And I told you so in Jesus's eyes as Peter was staring. And as soon as Peter seen Jesus eyes, he suddenly remembered that he was told that he would deny him three times. You can just imagine the guilt that hit him at that moment. Peter left the courtyard overwhelmed with guilt and shame. Then the next time we find Peter, he's broken and gave up, back fishing naked. His morals are shot. Then we have Judas. Judas was the guy who was trusted with everything. And he, he might have this bad picture that all he was was a bad guy. No, no, Judas was one of the original 12. He was the group's treasurer. He handled all the money. And you have to understand how trusted you have to be to be held in that position, to be the one in charge of the money. He literally handled their survival. He saw Jesus heal the blind feet, thousands. I mean, picture the crowds. He'd seen the miracles. Judas was there for all of it. He, he even preached the Kingdom of heaven with others. I mean Matthew 10, five through 7. Jesus sent out all 12 disciples, which includes Judas and told them to go announce the Kingdom of heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, cast out demons. He did it all with them. Judas was a part of that group. Now, he did have a big screw up Jesus. Jesus was out praying. Judas snuck off to the chief priest. You know, maybe he was scared Jesus of Jesus's path. Maybe he was chasing a fortune. Maybe he was starting to wonder if Jesus was the real Messiah. I don't know. The Bible doesn't even tell us. But after discussion with the priest, he agreed to betray Jesus for some money. Judas then LED a mob to where Jesus was playing that praying that night, and he kissed Jesus on the cheek as a signal to the soldiers. That way the rest of them didn't know he betrayed Jesus. Jesus was arrested, condemned, and Jesus and Judas saw it all go down. He seen that him get convicted. As soon as he did, he realized he had a royally screwed up and he betrayed innocent blood. He ran to the priest at the temple, silver coins in his hands, just shaking. You have to just think he's running. He realizes his mistake. He's got all that money that was given to him in his hands. He's just shaking. He he, he ran to the temple with the priest and he threw the money on the ground crying. I've seen I've betrayed an innocent man. At that moment, Matthew tells us Judas was just overwhelmed with guilt. You can just imagine his heart's breaking, hands trembling. You can imagine a priest cold stare. Then you know they just brushed off his pain like so why don't we care? And then as Judas threw the coin, he left the temple overwhelmed with self hate, guilt and despair. The next time we find Judas, he's hanging from a tree. You see, Peter and Judas both screwed up, but their mindsets made the difference. Peter's mindset is, you know, first he back slid, he quit the fight, he went back to fishing, back to his old life. He was broken. He was. His mortals were shot. He was found naked. John 21 when he realized he he was in that state until Jesus showed up and Jesus starts giving a fishing advice. I didn't recognize him at first, but as soon as he realized it was Jesus, he puts it, says he puts on his tunic and runs towards him. Jesus of course being him reminds him of his love for Peter and his grace. And Peter, remembering what Jesus taught him, picked himself back up. Next time we find Peter, he is boldly standing up as a leader for Christ. First he we find him declaring that a replacement for Judas must be met in Acts 1. Being a leader then. Then the next time we see him, he's standing in front of thousands telling them the good news, testifying what must be done if you want to be saved. He's baptizing thousands. This is Acts chapter 2. You can see just a complete mindset shift. Then you have the mindset of Judas. Judas was overwhelmed with guilt, grief, self hate, regret, the list goes on and on. He couldn't bear the thought of what he had done to an innocent man. He couldn't carry the weight what he did to the Messiah. I mean, you have to imagine all the thoughts and memories that started flooded in, flooding in. I mean, he was there for everything. All the miracles, all the healings, all the demons being cast out. The next time we find Judas, he is broken, he's giving up and he's hanging from a tree. How easy is it to give up, to think you're too far gone, even when you've been the friend of Jesus, even when you've known him for so long? Tragedy or trouble or mistakes can completely blind us to what we know he can do. I got to give credit to another friend of mine, Cody Thrash. I was discussing some of this episode with him and he he lifted my blinders on that right there. You you should check out his podcast and disciple life on Apple podcast. But he he really just helped shape this thought. But anyhow, what what we have to remember is God's love and mercy. Now, my friend that I mentioned at the earlier part that struggles with sex, I won't mention his name, but he has always subconsciously had the mindset of Peter. If he's listening, I hope he knows. I'm proud that he has never given up. I'm proud that even though he knows he's wrong, he's made mistakes. He always dust himself off and tried again. And buddy, keep trying till you get it right now. Peter tried again, Judas didn't. Now here's your motivation to try again. Proverbs 24 and 16, it says a righteous man falls 7 times and rises up again. Now what you have to know is that #7 in that verse in ancient Hebrew, it means until complete, until full, when when you screw up either big or repetitively, try again. What makes someone righteous versus wicked isn't their ability to avoid mistakes, it's their ability to get up and try again. When you fail that #7 sits there and says, hey, all right, we're not complete yet, we're going to try again. That's what makes you righteous. Peter failed three times, probably even more, but he rose up through repentance. Judas fell once, a big screw up, and he stayed down. He missed the complete mercy of Jesus. Your falls, whether 7 or 70, don't exhaust God. Repent, seek Jesus and try again. And you might ask, how do I try again? I don't listen. Listen, I don't care what you did last year, last month, an hour ago. Tell God you're sorry. That's the first step. Tell God you're sorry. You know Judas ran to the priest, that this is where the mistakes were made. When Judas screwed up, he ran to the priest. Peter ran to God. Where are you going to run? Where are you running? Tell God you're sorry and next step I would say is if it's affected anyone else, apologize to them rather if they receive it or not. Rather if you think they're going to take you back with open arms. It don't matter if you did something to harm someone else and you know you're wrong, apologize to them rather. If it's a text in face something, at least your conscience will be clear at that point. Biblically speaking, it's on them to forgive or they're going to be a judge according to their thought process and how they handle that. You've done your part and as long as you actually meant it. Next, I would say you pray for the Holy Spirit to encourage you to build you up. Because let me tell you that mind, that mind is going, you know, through actual spiritual warfare isn't the devil. It's really the core of it is yourself. And when you make big mistakes, yourself is going to sit there and tell you that you, you're too far gone, this mistake's too big, you can't eat. God will never forgive you. Your friends will never forgive you. Everyone's looking at you different. Everyone's judging you. You might as well just leave church because no one's going to think the same of you ever again. That's the kind of, that's the kind of stuff your mind will tell you, But pray against that. Dust yourself off. Next time you come to a crossroads, choose a different path. Avoid that old sin. And when you do that, when you do all these steps, that's how the mercy of God steps in. That's how you get it to wash over you. True repentance is not just oh God, I'm sorry and then just go do it again. No, no, no, true repentance is yes, you. There is some telling God I'm sorry in it, but it's a recognization, recognization of what you did wrong and trying to avoid doing that same thing wrong again. Right. If you put up guard wet rails right, if you abstain from certain situations or entertainment, maybe I, I don't know what what triggers you down to your sin that you struggle with. Put in some effort there. God's not going to deliver you from nothing that you're not working to be delivered from just it just won't happen. But to sum this whole thought process up, you have to remember this that word failure is only defined by a man who is trying. And if you ain't trying, then you're dying. I could write a book on screw ups, but luckily we have a book on mercy. All we have to do is dust ourselves off and try again. If if you feel like you've screwed up really bad and you're just overwhelmed with guilt, I pray that the mercy of God will reign over you. And I pray that you will find hope in the mindset of Peter. I hope this podcast has helped someone. I pray that you overcome whatever you're dealing with. And if you like this podcast, please like, share, subscribe to I. I just want I want to reach somebody and truly help to make all my screw ups and my tears and mistakes worth going through. Thank you for listening to my heart and stay real.