Our past failures don't necessarily characterise us, but in some cases it can feel that way. If you've ever let someone down or fallen short of what God requires of you, you'll be familiar with feeling inadequate and guilty.

These feelings are only amplified when we fail to meet the expectations held by those we love. However, God's promise of forgiveness means that despite our failings there is always an opportunity for us to restore our relationship with Him and with anyone else we may have let down along the way.

Although we try our best to avoid it, and feel awful when we're unable to, failure is inevitable for each and every one of us. It's an integral part of the process of learning how to successfully achieve our goals and become the person that God wants us to be. Remember, God isn't finished with you yet, (Philippians 1:6). You're a work in progress. More important than your stumbling is what you do when you get back up.

If you've knowingly let someone or God down and you feel as though the subsequent guilt is tearing you apart, the following Bible verses serve as a reminder that there is still hope. Don't dwell on your disappointment. Let God's Word show you that failure doesn't have to be final.

1 John 1:9 – "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

Psalm 103:11-13 – "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him."

Jeremiah 8:4 – "Say to them, 'This is what the Lord says: When people fall down, do they not get up? When someone turns away, do they not return?'"

Psalm 37:23-24 – "The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in Him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with His hand."

Psalm 73:26 – "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

Proverbs 24:16 – "For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes."

Philippians 3:12-14 – "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Romans 8:1-2 – "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death."