Regrets

    I was once visiting with a woman who had lived a rather rocky life. She was describing some of the things she had done and places she had been, including at least one near-death experience. Then she made a startling remark that I have never forgotten. "You know," she said, "even with all the things I've done, I have no regrets."

    I couldn't wrap my mind around that statement. No regrets? Was that possible? I've pondered that thought for years as I have struggled with my own regrets. There are many. Things I shouldn't have done, things I failed to do, days I didn't take the time to count the cost of my actions. Slowly, I've come to a new understanding of that statement from so long ago.

    I believe regrets are something we all deal with. We are human. We make mistakes and poor choices. But I also believe regrets are something we must learn to let go. 

    Please understand, I don't mean carelessly shrugging away our guilt. Rather, regret should be viewed as a catalyst to change. It is a powerful tool of education that need not be considered negative unless we fail to learn from it. 

    It is sometimes hardest, however, to accept we have made mistakes which we regret. We don't like to be reminded of our imperfection. Making amends to the best of our ability is the first step. Seeking forgiveness from God and from those whom we have wronged is important. But then what? Really it's simple: Leave the rest with God.

    Regrets were not meant to make us feel overwhelmed and helpless. They are meant to help us grow, and then we need to let them go. Paul says, "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14) 

    Paul certainly knew about regrets. He also knew the importance of moving on. Why else would he speak of forgetting things which are behind? And he doesn't make it sound like something that just happened; he speaks of it as something he actively does. He had learned to make the choice to let the past go. 

    We, too, must choose to have faith in the cleansing blood. We must learn to rely on a love greater than our understanding. Like Paul, we must press toward the mark of the high calling.

    Letting go of regret is vitally important to a Christian. Too many of us tend to keep regret as a pet, feeding and tending to it daily. Some of us even use our regret as a false benchmark of humility. Neither of these mindsets will make us profitable servants of Christ. Instead, we will hobble on the pathway, barely able to travel with little or no ability to help others on the way.

    Instead of freely sharing inspirations and caring words, we pacify ourselves by thinking that, "I don't really have much to give. I'm not a very good Christian, after all. See all my failures?" Because we are so focused on our own failures instead of the cleansing blood, we will not be able to witness the Joy of the Spirit, only the burden of our regrets.

    You can't change the past. You can't take away your imperfections or your humanity, but you can grasp the future. "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Letting go of regrets is an act of faith in God's forgiveness. It is a mark of belief in His promises. And, yes, it is an act of hope for your future.

    Have you been hanging on to things that are holding you back in your Christian journey? You don't need to. Just as a student is not kept in the same grade until he earns perfect marks in every subject, God does not want you to linger in the past. Learn what you can from the mistakes you made, and then move forward into a future of hope. He's already there, waiting.

    Are you ready?