The fear of failure can be a very inhibiting state of mind that can constrict our lives and interfere with our full human development—both spiritually and psychologically. Peter can serve as a powerful antidote to this fear. Despite several major failures in his life he doesn’t allow fear of further failure deter him. And so he resolutely steps out of the boat and onto the water. Later he will take a similar risky step by assuring Christ that he would lay down his life for him. In both instances he appears to fail, but in reality these are learning steps without which growth and development cannot occur. For, although we don’t know if he subsequently learned to walk on water, we do know that he did eventually lay down his life for Christ. Fear of failure is bound up both with pride and lack of faith. Stepping out in faith and risking failure thus allows us to grow in faith while simultaneously undermining our pride—surely two good reasons to overcome our fear of failure!