We all need some failure in our lives in order to grow, but failure quickly becomes a problem when it goes from a learning tool to a tyrannical autocrat. For many, failure has a tendency to quickly scribe an identity without giving a second glance. This persistent type of failure removes dignity and replaces it with shame. Fortunately the helping relationship has the power to speak into this kind of failure and renovate the damage that failure has brought to the soul.
The helping relationship hears, sees, and recognizes the pains behind failure that few others have ever been privy to. It hears the shame surrounding the gossip from peers back in grade school; it sees the self loathing that past financial mistakes have implanted; it recognizes the much needed, tightly withheld forgiveness from a selfish and manipulative parent. The helping relationship perceives the things that other relationships have completely missed. Truly this relationship keenly perceives the poison that failure imparts on its victims.

Helping someone who is struggling with a nagging sense of failure can be difficult. Failure wants to quickly scribe an identity on to a person without giving them more than a second glance. And in order to truly help someone, it takes more than a simple thirty second conversation.

Remember this first before jumping in to serve: People’s reactions to failures reveal much about them. Most people don’t breakdown and cry unless they are facing something that is too big for them to handle. Observe everything you can before approaching their struggles. Verbally recognize their pain and in humility ask if they’d be willing to share it with you. Always think of this as a blessing, that someone is willing to trust you enough to share their burdens with you.