I’m a passionate follower of Jesus Christ. I believe he died for my sins, and I will have eternal life because of him. Over the last 50 years of being at different stages of my Christianity (there have been many), I have run into two basic types of Jesus followers. The good guys that grew up in church mostly did good and ended up marrying their childhood sweethearts and mainly stayed to the status quo.
The other kind wandered off the farm and screwed up all the time. Doing things they knew were not suitable and always saying this will be the last time I do that. These people (of which I am one) crashed and burned often, then became humbled and broken. Jesus found them, forgave them, and they managed to turn their lives around.
In my group, we deal with many regrets, yet for some of us, this regret is very hard to handle. In my years as a part of this second group, I have successfully found a few ways to deal with my guilt.
- Accept the “new you.” – “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20) isn’t just a religious metaphor.
- Own the “dead you.” – The sins, failures, and decisions you made were buried with the “dead you.”
- Put it away. – Getting rid of physical reminders of things you regret can help you move on.
- Learn from it. – Experience isn’t a good teacher but examined experience is.
We all must deal with regret at different levels. The apostle Paul had his share, and his words show that he struggled with the same things we do. Owning his new identity in Christ, letting go of his past sins and mistakes, and acknowledging the death of “Saul,” who did horrible stuff.
Think about this. Christ’s death on the cross was payment for all your sins. His crucifixion paid for them once and for all. When you bring decisions back up and replay them again through regret, you’re giving away the freedom Jesus died to give you!
Have a fantastic day!
Tracy
