Lessons from Defeat by Northwestern Christian Advocate

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 22, 1900

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 26, No. 34.

Lessons from Defeat

By Northwestern Christian Advocate

DEFEAT makes the school in which most of us have to be trained. In all kinds of work men learn by mistakes. The successful business man did not begin with success. He learned by experience, and the experience was very costly. The true science of living is not to make no mistakes, but not to repeat one's mistakes. Defeat, when one has done one's best, and when one takes a lesson from his defeat, is not something to be ashamed of, but something to be glad for, since it sets one's feet on a little higher plane. Defeat which makes us wiser and better is a blessing to us. We owe more to our defeats, with the humblings of the old nature, the cleansing of motive and affection, and the deepening of trust in God, than we owe to the prouder experiences which we call our successes.