One of my favorite Bible characters is David.  And it's not for the traditional reasons, because he was good with the harp, or even because he was a giant killer.  It seems to me that the great men of the Bible all went through stages.  They seemed to be called to something great in their youth.  Then they meet some sort of struggle where they are ultimately forced to choose to grow from their failures or fall in defeat of their failures.  
    In David's life I am sure he was the MAN after killing Goliath.  He was young, good looking.  They were singing about him.  "Would the real slim David, please stand up, please stand up!"   That David is, "Pretty Fly for a White Guy!"  "You know I wish that I had Jesse's boy!  Where can I find a man like that?  I wish that I had Jesse's boy!"  It's not long after this that David finds himself taking another man's wife, and having to defend his kingdom from his own sons.  All because David had become selfish and lazy.    
    So why is he one of my favorites.  Because he messed up, and I can relate.  Serving God is a lot easier than we make it out to be.  I am not the best husband, the best dad, the best friend, there are times I am lazy and selfish and think of only myself, like David.  But our God is a God of second chances.  He allows us the space to fail so that we can learn and grow from our failures and then choose to turn back to Him.  That's why David was a great example, because he did some bad things but he always chose to turn back to God and follow Him.  We are going to fail, but it's what we do with our failures that will determine our future successes.