Quick reflection on Peter's reconciliation with Jesus in John 21, where Jesus asks Do you love me a 3rd time and Peter responds, "Lord you know everything; you know that I love you.”

He couldn't appeal to his own energy & passion: "When everyone leaves, I will die with you!" 1/

It's important to let Peter give witness to the spiritual bankruptcy of being carried by the power of your convictions, eagerness, and zeal.

At some point, after failure, humiliations, experiencing limitations, weariness, those things won't sustain you. 2/

I find it instructive that after failure/humiliation, he doesn't appeal to his own fervency. He doesn't double down. He appeals to Jesus. "Lord, you know."

Personally, that's an important lesson for a few reasons: 3/

One, I don't have the same kind of passion and energy at 39 that I did at 29. I'm just physiologically different. I came to NYC with dreams, energy, and convictions that drove me. Some dreams came true. Some didn't. But I'm not the same guy. I have deeper limitations now. 4/

Also, those energies and passions were put through some fire. I've failed. I've been humiliated a few times. Embarrassed. Often times in these moments, our energy, passions, and zeal get exposed as more self-serving than we first realized. 5/

But finally, as someone who struggles with depression, I'm really hopeful to see Peter resist appealing to his conviction, eagerness, and zeal.

He trusts that the Lord will shepherd him through the failure, the heartbreak, and the pain. 6/

In some meaningful way, Peter came to the end of himself. The only thing left he could say was, "Lord, you know."

I'm grateful for that. 7/