Regrets - Divine Moments for Men
Regrets
MY QUESTION for GOD
There are a lot of things in my past that I regret doing. How can I get over those regrets?
A MOMENT with GOD
Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant girl came over and said to him, “You were one of those with Jesus the Galilean.” But Peter denied it in front of everyone. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. Later, out by the gate, another servant girl noticed him and said to those standing around, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” Again Peter denied it, this time with an oath. “I don’t even know the man,” he said. A little later some of the other bystanders came over to Peter and said, “You must be one of them; we can tell by your Galilean accent.” Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m lying—I don’t know the man!” And immediately the rooster crowed. Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And he went away, weeping bitterly.
Matthew 26:69-75
I say to you that you are Peter (which means “rock”), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.
Matthew 16:18
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
2 Corinthians 5:17
If the memories and experiences of your life were compared to rocks that you have collected and must carry around in a backpack, surely guilt and regret would be among the heaviest. Guilt is a legitimate spiritual response to sin. Regret is sorrow over the consequences of your decisions, both the sinful and the simply unfortunate. While God promises to remove your guilt when you seek his forgiveness, he does not prevent the consequences of your sin. It is likely the regret over those consequences that you are carrying, and it weighs you down with remorse. God promises to help you deal with your regrets so you can move on to the future without carrying a heavy load of guilt. When you come to faith in Jesus, he forgives your sins—all of them. He actually forgets your past, and he gives you a fresh start. You still have to live with the consequences of your actions because those cannot be retracted. But because God forgives and forgets, you can move forward without the heavy burden of regret. Because God no longer holds your past against you, you no longer need to hold it against yourself. You can be free from self-condemnation. Regrets can be so enslaving that they consume your thoughts and disable you from serving God in the future. If Peter had focused on the regret he experienced after denying Jesus, he would never have been able to preach the Good News so powerfully. Don’t let regret paralyze you; let God’s forgiveness motivate you toward positive action for him in the future. It is a divine moment when you truly grasp the power of God’s healing forgiveness and are able to turn your regrets into resolve.
DIVINE PROMISE
David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it: “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.” Romans 4:6-8
