I Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
We all make mistakes, but the mistakes I dread the most are the mistakes I have made for the second, third, fourth, or fifth time. It is not very often I say, “Wow! That is a new mistake. I have never done that before.” Now, obviously, every mistake I have made, I have made for the first time at one point, but I am often chagrined at how many times I make the same, dumb mistakes over and again instead of learning from my mistakes and my experiences.
If you are not learning from experience, if you are not learning from history, then you are just not learning. It is one thing to learn something from a textbook or class. It is another thing to be learning from life. That is something that God would have us to do.
I Corinthians 10:1 says, “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea.” He introduces the experience, the history, of the fathers of the people that he was addressing. Now, if I am not learning from the fathers and history, if I am ignorant of those things, then I am totally missing out.
Verse 6 says, “These things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.” In other words, God says that the things that happened in Israel’s history were examples for us, examples of what to do or what not to do.
Verse 7 says, “Neither be ye idolaters.” Verse 8 says, “Neither let us commit fornication.” Verse 9 says, “Neither let us tempt Christ.” Verse 10 says, “Neither murmur ye.” In each of these cases, these were things that the forefathers, those that were coming out of Egypt in the Exodus, had done.
There is nothing new under the sun, and we have more experience and history upon which to draw than literally and obviously any generation in human history. History is the story of man’s response to God and man’s response to temptation, and so it is in I Corinthians 10.
Verse 11 sums it up by saying, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” Far better men than I am have made far bigger mistakes than I have. I need to learn from them. If I will not learn from mistakes and history, I am just not learning.
It is good to learn from our mistakes, and it is even better to learn from the mistakes and successes of others. I can see the lives that others have lived, address the Bible to those lives and issues, and live better than I otherwise would have because I take heed to their examples.
What you learn from experience tends to depend upon your mindset. For instance, if a guy is a thief and he gets caught, he can learn from that experience. He can learn that he had better stop being a thief or he can learn how to be a better thief and get away with it next time. So, what we learn from history largely depends upon our thinking when we come to it. That is why the Bible is so important. The Bible presents God’s way of thinking on the experiences of people.
Today, regardless of your life or where you are, learn from history, learn from experience, and learn from mistakes because if you are not learning from history and experience, you are not learning.