Just a Thought: Regret, if not dealt with properly can and will lead to destruction. “What if I just can’t get over my regrets?” That’s not the real question. And, as hard as it may be to hear, the real question is, “Why won’t you get over your regret?” “Why are you choosing to hang on to something that is literally going to cause you mental, emotional, physical and spiritual harm?” “Why are you feeling or thinking you must keep dealing with this?” And the answer is, “You have chosen to not accept God’s grace and forgiveness and to forgive yourself. You think you must be punished or suffer for what you have done. This my friend is a total rejection of God’s grace. Judas had made a deal with the religious leaders in the temple to betray Jesus and deliver Him up. He must not have had the outcome that developed in mind. We don’t know from scripture what he thought was going to happen. But, when Jesus was arrested and sentenced to death Judas realized what he had done and was filed with regret admitting Jesus was not worthy of death. Judas showed his regret when he attempted to return the money. But, the religious leaders would have nothing to do with Judas and considered his actions and regret to be his problem and not theirs. This regret on Judas’s part was so great, it led to him destroying his own life rather than turning to God for forgiveness. “When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.” (Matt 27:3, 5) Judas never dealt with his regret properly. Unlike peter, his regret never turned to repentance and instead it led to his own death. This is a terrible but, important lesson for us. Regret, if not dealt with properly can and will lead to destruction. And, there is no need for it to. God in His wonderful grace has provided full forgiveness to all who would repent of their sin (1 Jn. 1:9). And, there is no sin too great for God’s grace. In Jesus, we have the full pardon for our sin. We do not need to hang on to what God has put away. We do not need to continually remind ourselves of what God has chosen to forget. We do not have punish ourselves for what God has pardoned us from. We can find forgiveness and freedom in Jesus. But, if we refuse to accept God’s grace by faith. And, we choose rather to hold on to our regret, we are simply inviting overwhelming trouble into our lives at multiple levels. No one is suggesting the past didn’t happen. No one is suggesting we just act like it was no big deal. What I am suggesting for our benefit is that we take God at His word through faith. Put the past in the past. Place it in the hands of the Lord. Thank God for His grace, complete forgiveness and the fresh starts He give us each and every new day. Jeremiah reminds us what God has for us when he writes, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.’ (Lam 3:22-23) How do you deal properly with your regret? 1. Through true repentance. 2. Confess your sin to the Lord. 3 Accept His grace and forgiveness by faith. 4. Leave your past with the Lord 5. Trust in and be grateful for God’s wonderful promise of fresh starts (for even you). The time is now to deal with your regret and escape its destructive power over you.
