Regret is always accompanied with a sad feeling about some unfinished business. Perhaps it was carelessly spoken words for which you neglected to apologize. Maybe it was an accidental mistake or an unwise choice. You may have missed a window of opportunity and now it is too late. It always involves wishful thinking that you had handled a situation differently.
Regret enslaves you in a “trap” of self-pity and remorse. You can’t change the past, but you can ruin the present worrying about it. Regret over irreversible, traumatic circumstances can literally send you into the depths of despair, but only if you allow it. If you can repair the damage, do it! If you can’t fix it, shake it off. Forgiveness unlocks the trap door. Move on to the new business of changing the future.
Psalms 124:7 (AMP)
“We are like a bird escaped from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped!”
Practical Application and Assignments:
Jesus provided a “get out of jail free card.” You don’t have to be incarcerated in regret. When you reconcile with the past, you unlock your future.
- Answer the following questions: What is the unfinished business in my life that is causing guilt and regrets? What are the steps I need to take to get out of this tormenting prison?
- Change your future. Regret always takes you back to the past. Retrace your steps, but this time, go “back to the future.” For example, if you wish you had been more loving in the past, take a giant step forward and begin being more loving.
- Get out of the past! About face! Turn around! Regret is only a curve in the road. Someone said, “A curve in the road is not the end of the road, unless you fail to make the turn.”
“O that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course You set: Then I’d never have any regrets”… Psalm 119:5, 6 (MSG)
