Regret, Remorse, or Repentance

Godly sorrow brings repentance…and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 2 Cor. 7:10

There are three responses we can make in dealing with past mistakes: regret, remorse, or repentance. Although similar, they produce completely different results. Consider this illustration: A man has struggled with pornography addiction for years. After every indulgence, he berates himself for his weakness. He calls himself every name he can think of and sets his heart to self-loathing mode in an effort to show God he is sorry. That is remorse. The next time he gives in, he remembers the stricken look on his wife's face when she found the pornographic material on his phone and computer. His stomach fills with acid and he shuts his eyes to try to blot out the memory. If only he hadn't done it...but it's too late now. That is regret.

One night as he prepares to click on the link that will pull him back into his private nightmare, he has a vision of Jesus gazing back at him from the screen. His eyes are filled with compassion, but His white robe is stained and bloody, smeared with filth. In his arms he carries the photos and movies the man has been watching. "I paid for this with my life," Jesus says. “Go and sin no more." The vision is gone as quickly as it came and now all the man sees is the triple-X link on his computer screen. In fury, he slams the lid and quickly dials a Christian friend to ask for help. No matter what it costs him, from now on he will do whatever it takes to forsake this evil. How could He put more of this filth on the Son of God? That is repentance.

Two men betrayed Jesus on the night he was crucified. Judas felt remorse and his life ended. Peter repented and his life was transformed. Repentance is the doorway into God’s presence and into the victory waiting for you.

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The Anchor of Regret

 

…forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead… Philippians 3:13

“It is finished!” The cry from the bloody cross echoed through the crowd and left a question in the minds of Jesus’ friends. What was finished? His life? No, Jesus had already prophesied that He would rise from the dead in three days. That cry signaled the completion of a plan put into motion before time began. The meaning of that cry transformed a ragtag bunch of crooks and fishermen into world-changing revolutionaries. That cry has continued to change the world, declaring victory for anyone who would call upon His name. Calling Jesus Lord means that no one need remain captive to past mistakes. Jesus used His own blood to cancel the debt we owe God. Nothing was left to be accomplished. He bought the ticket out of our past.

But regret is an anchor that prevents us from moving on. We even convince ourselves that we are honoring God by refusing to forgive ourselves. But when Jesus cried, “It is finished,” He cut the cable to that anchor. When we place our souls under the blood that cleanses us, we can forget what lies behind and reach forward to what lies ahead. We don’t have to be defined by anything except our relationship to Him. Regret is a false humility that reminds us continually how we have failed. But when we transfer ownership of our lives to the lordship of Jesus, regret goes with it. He gives us a new heart and a new future (2 Cor. 5:17).

Has regret prevented you from moving on? Jesus offers to cut the cable to that anchor. 

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