Looking back at our lives, we all have regrets, we all have bad memories of things we have done that we wish we hadn’t. Life is short, but not short enough to go though it completely mistake free. Some of us have greater regrets than others, some of us has gone completely dark at times and some people may have only a few things they wish they hadn’t done, hadn’t said, took part in, ignored for too long or pulled someone else into doing. Whoever we are, whatever it is, we all have something we wish we could erase as easily as hitting backspace on a keyboard.
The thing about regret, is that it never hits you in the moment, it brews slowly over time and turns into a sour pit in your stomach. Some regrets hit you short after, but some may lay dormant for months, maybe even years before you start hating what you have done. Regret can even find its way deep into your soul and cause you to develop a strong hate for yourself. Either way, regret is awful and unlike anger or sadness, it grows deep roots and is sometimes impossible to get rid of. Regret is like a scar, it sticks, so we just learn to live with it.
God has done the greatest thing for us in giving us His Son for the forgiveness of our sins and without it we are surely lost, but how often do we just pray for forgiveness of our sins without even giving any thought to what it is we ask forgiveness for? Do you know what you would say if you asked for forgiveness and then have Jesus reply: “What is it you need forgiveness for?”
Do we just accept that sin is in our lives because it is as easy as saying a simple prayer to cover whatever we have done in a day? You see forgiveness is not an eraser, it is a transaction. It is not a cover up, it is not a backspace button, forgiveness is what you receive in exchange for you sins. If Forgiveness was an eraser than God would never have given His Son, but he did, He gave His only Son to pay for our wrong doings. It is not covered up or ignored it is taken away.
So how do we make this transaction? Repentance. Complete, down to the deepest roots, into the darkest corners of you heart repentance. It is not an overall kind of thing, it is not a ‘make me feel better’ kind of thing, it is a complete surrender, all in, absolutely empty and brand new creation kind of thing. You have to rip it out and let it sting, you need to give it to Him completely, flushing out all the poison, lay it before God and name it as it is, give Him details and tell Him how you feel.
Think about how it effected you and all the parties involved, repent for the sins against your body, those of others, for the sins of your heart, mind and the things you have released over the lives of others and even yourself by the words you have spoken. Let it out, feel the regret and do not be afraid of it, because He wants it all, He wants to make you completely new, He is not interested in just covering it up.
I’m not saying you should become ‘sin’ centred, I’m saying God wants to make you new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 reads: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! Just doing a simple prayer for forgiveness is not repentance, it more like saying “whatever I did, let’s just forget about it” When we do say those prayers, like we do in the Lords prayer (Matthew 6:9 – 13) then we are making a re commitment to our repentance, to the things we have already given to God, reaffirming that we do not desire to be that person.
If we truly repent and give God absolutely everything, then regret, the very thing that made you feel less than, unworthy, dirty and broken, becomes a reminder of how much you are loved, how much you are made new and how deep God has reached to save you. Those scars of regret that reminded you how dirty you are, now becomes a reminder of what Jesus has done for you.
God bless,
Miryna van As