When I ponder current life events, I often catch myself growing frustrated with our inability to learn from our own mistakes. How many times can we repeat the same error? What is it about human nature that makes us so pathetically unteachable?

One fresh example I want to share with you is the illegal fireworks blasted across Los Angeles on the Fourth of July. Just a few months ago, our city was engulfed in devastating fires. Over 16,000 structures were destroyed, and 30 people lost their lives. By God’s mercy, Los Angeles was spared even greater catastrophe. And yet, on a dry day under extreme heat conditions, fireworks exploded everywhere as if nothing had been learned.

We often use the phrase “To err is human, to forgive is divine” as a kind of blanket justification. Yet God has given us the capacity to reason, to discern, and to correct what may once have been honest mistakes.

If erring is part of our fallible human nature, what are we doing to minimize those errors? If I had a definitive answer, perhaps it could save humanity. Sadly, I don’t. But one thing I do know: it is crucial that we remain grounded in our faith—even when we’re doing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons. As long as we’re anchored in faith, there remains hope for return, repentance, learning, and renewal. But when we lose that grounding, we become even more prone to making deeper, more destructive mistakes.

In the book of Exodus, we read that while Moses was still on Mount Sinai, the people below grew restless. Days and weeks passed, and there was no sign of him. The man who had led them out of Egypt, who spoke with God and parted the sea, seemed to have vanished.

Anxiety turned into panic. Unsure of what to believe, the people gathered around Aaron and demanded: “Make us gods to go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what’s become of him.” (Exodus 32:1–4)

Pressed by fear and mounting pressure, Aaron gave in. He asked for their gold, and with his own hands, he took what they offered, melted it down, and shaped it into a golden calf.

From this story, we learn that fear and uncertainty can tempt us into sin. We see that even great leaders can compromise their integrity under stress. And perhaps most sobering of all, emotional strain can cause even the most faithful to fall into grave error.

Therefore, let us remain steadfast in our faith and grounded in hope—no matter how stressful, desperate, or hopeless our reality may seem. Yes, it is human to err—but it is also human to grow, to turn back, and to rectify our mistakes through faith, repentance, self-awareness, critical thinking, and the God-given gift of learning.