Regret

I am intrigued by the word regret. What does it mean? Why is it not in the Bible? These are questions I will try to answer today. Mr. Webster: to mourn the loss or death of, to miss poignantly (or painfully affecting the feelings), to be keenly sorry for, an expression of sorrow, disappointment, or other distressing emotion, a note politely declining an invitation.

So by Mr. Webster’s explanation we see regret is mainly an emotion, controlled by our physical senses, expressed as disappointment. Regret is our old nature being allowed to stay in control of our new man.

We are reminded by Paul to forget those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before us (Philippians 3:13). He continues to remind the Philippians to keep their eyes on the prize and press forward toward the mark or goal for the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. This goal was stated in verse ten, “that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection”. Paul knew he had not arrived and he keep going and never quit or even look behind at his past, but always looking toward his future.

When Christians fail to look forward to the prize and instead look at the past, they will become discouraged instead of encouraged. Our past is full of failures and triumphs, but they are history.

The enemy of God will magnify our defeats if we dwell on our past failures. We are being deceived, or looking at something other than the truth of Gods word. We can not change our history, but we can and must learn from it. In Philippians 3: 8, we see Paul’s response to his past, which he counts as dung or refuse. He can only see who he is today in Christ Jesus, as he tells us that he is free from the blood of all men (Acts 20:26). He has lived his life in all good conscience before God until this day (Acts 23:1). Paul’s past was past, and he made sure it stayed that way. When we allow our past to dominate our present, it makes our future hard to see. We become self centered instead of being Christ centered.

Why is the word “regret” not in the KJV of the Bible? We may not find this word but we do find the word grief. What is the difference? Godly grief leads one to repentance, whereas regret only leads to guilt or remorse. Repentance is the ability to change ones behavior (2 Corinthians 7:10). The Christian Courier says that regret may be defined as a distress of mind, or a painful memory, over something that happened in the past. It often reflects the contemplation of a circumstance that lies beyond the possibility of repair.

As a child of God we are responsible to make sure we do not allow regret to dominate our lives. Romans 8:1 says there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We are forgiven if we have chosen the life of a believer and accepted Jesus as our saviour.

In Luke 9: 62, Jesus says, “no man who puts his hand to the plow and looks back (to things behind) is fit for the Kingdom of God. What did Jesus mean when He spoke this? When someone looks back they can not keep the plow straight in the furrow. This comparison is about someone who is at work plowing a field and his attention had to be on the opposite end, so his rows would be straight and people who watched him knew he was a good farmer. Someone who could stay focused on the job at hand.

As a disciple we must make a radical commitment to follow Jesus and be about Kingdom work. We are to be just like Jesus. But, as a believer we are saved but the commitment level is not the same. We are easily distracted and this is what Jesus was talking about. A farmer, not fit to farm. Saved, but still a baby in the Lord. Maturity comes as we grow older. Some mature faster than others. Each type is saved and Heaven is their home. Jesus is talking about deep commitment or allegiance. This is what makes one fit for Kingdom work.

This is where Paul was coming from as he writes about his past. Before his conversion he was a Jew of Jews, very committed to stopping this movement. After his encounter with the Messiah, he forgot his past and never looked back. He was a man on a new mission, and he accomplished it completely.

Our past will cripple us and keep our eyes on us. What we did in the past we can not repair or go back and make it new again to our satisfaction. We make our decisions based on what knowledge we had at the time we made them. This is just part of being human and not knowing Christ as our Saviour. Even after conversion we still make mistakes and wrong decisions. The only difference is that Jesus can take our mistakes and use them for our good (Romans 8:28).

We are now aware of what grief and regret is all about, and how destructive it is for Christians to fall into its trap. I hope you will use these simple words I have written and apply them to your lives. We are free from all condemnation of our past, and can walk away with our heads held high as Children of God, washed clean and filled with His righteousness. Life is hard and we do not need to make it any harder by believing the lies of the devil over the truth of Gods word.

Apply His word to your life as you remember, you will make it, just don’t give up. See you next week.

In His Service as Kilted Priest