Then Saul said, “I have sinned... Surely I have acted like a fool and have been terribly wrong”. 1 Samuel 26:21
Regrets... Do you have any? I think you would have to be either very special or very foolish to say No. To say “I have no regrets” is, after all, pretty much the same as saying “I have lived a perfect life”.
No: as we look back on our lives there are bound to be things where we wish we could turn the clock back. You made some silly remark - perhaps not meaning any ill, but it damaged a relationship. You missed a golden opportunity to do something good. You have had for a long time a relatively petty weakness which you just can’t master and which clouds your life. Trivial things, perhaps, but real all the same.
Other regrets are more serious. You took a disastrous career decision, or entered a completely wrong relationship, or got drawn into some kind of seriously bad behaviour. It changed your life for ever, and now it’s too late to put it right. You can echo the words of King Saul: “I have sinned... I have acted like a fool and been terribly wrong”.
I’ll leave you to read for yourself what Saul had done to make him feel that way. For us, the question has to be: “What can I do about my regrets? Can I in fact do anything?”
In essence we have two options.
First, we can slump into a kind of despair, even into a really destructive bitterness. We can go over and over in our minds our folly and stupidity. We can let it blight our lives.
Some people, tragically, do indeed allow their lives to be ruined by vain regrets. At worst, it may lead to hatred and malice towards themselves and/or others - in extreme cases, even to suicide. This can only be described as a victory for the devil, who loves nothing more than to wreak havoc on us.
But there is another way.
This is what the Bible calls repentance. We come to God and hold nothing back. We admit our sinfulness. We recognise that there is nothing now that we can do. We humble ourselves.
The turning point comes when, by an act of faith, we ask for and receive God’s forgiveness. And then we discover that along with that forgiveness comes something wonderful - the chance to start all over again.
“Forgive and forget” we sometimes say. Easier said than done! But what we need to grasp is that God loves to forgive even when we are unable to forget.
This doesn’t mean that he doesn’t care about the wrong we have done and the hurt we have caused - he does, he cares very much, and he knows that a price has to be paid. But the good news is that the price has been paid. Why else did Jesus die on the cross?
Nor does it mean that we don’t need to make amends if that is practically possible - forgiveness may be free, but it isn’t cheap, something dispensed from a heavenly slot machine into which we put a coin that says “Sorry”. The cost to us may range from a costly act of restitution to a simple but humiliating word of apology. But it has to be done - and when it is done it lifts a heavy burden from our souls.
I wonder if anyone reading this is living with vain regrets? Can I remind you that our loving God is the master of the second chance, the new beginning. He always has a bright new future for those who are truly sorry. Moses was guilty of murder; David committed adultery; Peter denied Jesus. But each went on to play a big part in God’s purposes. So why shouldn’t there be a bright new future for you too?
I don’t think we ever forget the wrongs we have done and the mistakes we have made. Nor would it be good if we did, especially if they caused pain to others. But repentance, ultimately, is all about that most wonderful of God’s gifts - hope. So go forward as a forgiven sinner, and let the hope of God fill your heart!
In Luke 15:11-32 Jesus told his story of the lost son - the “prodigal”. Why not take fifteen minutes to sit down and read it, and cast yourself in the role of the son. Take on your lips his words (the same as the words of King Saul): “I have sinned”. And then picture God throwing his arms around you and kissing you (verse 20). Yes, really!
You may also find it helpful to picture another act of God described in wonderfully physical terms, from Micah 7:19: “You will again have compassion upon us; you will tread our sins underfoot (stomp, stomp, stomp!) and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea (splash!!!)”.
Those regretted acts are gone, gone, gone!
Dear Father, as I look back in my life there is much I feel ashamed of. But thank you that you still love me and want only good for me. I pray for any people I have hurt or damaged - if there is any recompense I can make, then help me to make it. But thank you for a new start. Help me now to go forward, not looking back, and to live a life of Christlike holiness. Amen.
Regrets... Do you have any? I think you would have to be either very special or very foolish to say No. To say “I have no regrets” is, after all, pretty much the same as saying “I have lived a perfect life”.
No: as we look back on our lives there are bound to be things where we wish we could turn the clock back. You made some silly remark - perhaps not meaning any ill, but it damaged a relationship. You missed a golden opportunity to do something good. You have had for a long time a relatively petty weakness which you just can’t master and which clouds your life. Trivial things, perhaps, but real all the same.
Other regrets are more serious. You took a disastrous career decision, or entered a completely wrong relationship, or got drawn into some kind of seriously bad behaviour. It changed your life for ever, and now it’s too late to put it right. You can echo the words of King Saul: “I have sinned... I have acted like a fool and been terribly wrong”.
I’ll leave you to read for yourself what Saul had done to make him feel that way. For us, the question has to be: “What can I do about my regrets? Can I in fact do anything?”
In essence we have two options.
First, we can slump into a kind of despair, even into a really destructive bitterness. We can go over and over in our minds our folly and stupidity. We can let it blight our lives.
Some people, tragically, do indeed allow their lives to be ruined by vain regrets. At worst, it may lead to hatred and malice towards themselves and/or others - in extreme cases, even to suicide. This can only be described as a victory for the devil, who loves nothing more than to wreak havoc on us.
But there is another way.
This is what the Bible calls repentance. We come to God and hold nothing back. We admit our sinfulness. We recognise that there is nothing now that we can do. We humble ourselves.
The turning point comes when, by an act of faith, we ask for and receive God’s forgiveness. And then we discover that along with that forgiveness comes something wonderful - the chance to start all over again.
“Forgive and forget” we sometimes say. Easier said than done! But what we need to grasp is that God loves to forgive even when we are unable to forget.
This doesn’t mean that he doesn’t care about the wrong we have done and the hurt we have caused - he does, he cares very much, and he knows that a price has to be paid. But the good news is that the price has been paid. Why else did Jesus die on the cross?
Nor does it mean that we don’t need to make amends if that is practically possible - forgiveness may be free, but it isn’t cheap, something dispensed from a heavenly slot machine into which we put a coin that says “Sorry”. The cost to us may range from a costly act of restitution to a simple but humiliating word of apology. But it has to be done - and when it is done it lifts a heavy burden from our souls.
I wonder if anyone reading this is living with vain regrets? Can I remind you that our loving God is the master of the second chance, the new beginning. He always has a bright new future for those who are truly sorry. Moses was guilty of murder; David committed adultery; Peter denied Jesus. But each went on to play a big part in God’s purposes. So why shouldn’t there be a bright new future for you too?
I don’t think we ever forget the wrongs we have done and the mistakes we have made. Nor would it be good if we did, especially if they caused pain to others. But repentance, ultimately, is all about that most wonderful of God’s gifts - hope. So go forward as a forgiven sinner, and let the hope of God fill your heart!
In Luke 15:11-32 Jesus told his story of the lost son - the “prodigal”. Why not take fifteen minutes to sit down and read it, and cast yourself in the role of the son. Take on your lips his words (the same as the words of King Saul): “I have sinned”. And then picture God throwing his arms around you and kissing you (verse 20). Yes, really!
You may also find it helpful to picture another act of God described in wonderfully physical terms, from Micah 7:19: “You will again have compassion upon us; you will tread our sins underfoot (stomp, stomp, stomp!) and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea (splash!!!)”.
Those regretted acts are gone, gone, gone!
Dear Father, as I look back in my life there is much I feel ashamed of. But thank you that you still love me and want only good for me. I pray for any people I have hurt or damaged - if there is any recompense I can make, then help me to make it. But thank you for a new start. Help me now to go forward, not looking back, and to live a life of Christlike holiness. Amen.
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