Christian Chefs Fellowship - Devotional Articles

One thing in life we have no choice in -- and that is that we will ALWAYS make mistakes. But after we do make another mistake, there is one thing in which we do have a choice. And that is whether or not we allow ourselves to learn from the mistake. We can either learn and grow from that experience OR we can just forget about it and keep on going how we were, like Proverbs 26:11 states, "As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly."

We should never dwell on our mistakes and beat ourselves up over them, as that only leads to depression (Prov 12:25). What you can do is repent (if that mistake was sinful), know that God forgives us AND then forgive ourselves, and see what good can be taken from the situation.

Pretty much everybody who has been cooking for any period of time, especially in the secular world, has gotten furious with someone and did something they've regretted. In the past, I've gotten mad at someone and lashed out on them verbally. So what do you do in that situation? Obviously you need to get right with God and that person about the situation, but what then? Do you stay angry with yourself and keep going over and over what you did wrong? No, once you've gotten right with that person, you also need to forgive yourself and learn from what you did. So what is there to learn? It's fairly easy -- you look at what happened and at what could have prevented it from happening in the first place. Looking for signs in yourself that led up to the problem and at what external things also influenced it can help you to be a stronger Christian. Then you can start thinking through how you can avoid running into the same problems - for example by knowing at what point to leave a discussion in the future before you lose your temper.

This concept obviously works very well when you make mistakes in cooking as well. Once you make a mistake in a recipe, what should you do? If it's fixable (like a broken vinaigrette), you can learn two things. First is how to fix it, and secondly how not to make the mistake in the first place. If it is a mistake that is not fixable, like when I overcooked the ganache for some chocolate truffles a little while back, you have the opportunity to grow a great deal. I've rarely ever overcooked chocolate, but now I have a better idea of how easy chocolate is to overcook and a better idea on how not to do it. Although not with chocolate, sometimes making a mistake with a recipe will allow you to figure out other ways to use a product, making for a dish even better than what you had planned for. Never lose hope and never give up.

God bless, and just imagine how many great recipes and great people have come out of the simple concept of learning from mistakes made.

Your Brother in Christ,
Ira Krizo
http://www.ChristianChefs.org/about/irakrizo.html

If God is speaking to your heart about these things, and you need somebody to talk with, please don't hesitate to e-mail us about your need and somebody from the Fellowship will contact you as soon as possible. If you have a prayer request or would like to start a theological discussion on this or any other topic please feel free to post it in our Message Boards.

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