Living With Regret

Holding faith, and a good conscience;

which some having put away concerning

faith have made shipwreck.

I Timothy 1:19

If there is an area in my life where Satan loves to beat me to death, it's in the area of regret that usually spills over into guilt. I've never gotten past taking a nickle out of my Mother's purse so I could buy a bag of cheesy popcorn at school...that was fifth grade. In fact, that incident probably did more than anything to awaken in me the sense of what sin was. I accepted Jesus as my Savior not long after that. From that time to the present, I must say that although I haven't stolen nickels from anyone's purse, I have done other things that I know have not pleased the Lord. Oh, I haven't robbed any banks, killed anyone (even though I thought about it at times). I haven't kicked any dogs nor pushed any senior saint in front of an oncoming car. I have had to deal with my own rotten attitudes, words and behaviors that have hurt people; and I've been self centered when I should have been looking out for others. Satan is also expert in putting me on guilt trips over things of the past and the sad thing is that I often allow him to do it.

David, the man after God's own heart had everything going for him. There were probably few men in our Old Testament who had a closer relationship with God. David was God's chosen one to be Israel's second king. Up to a certain point, it would seem that David had everything all together. He had trials with Saul but David seemed to come through them pretty well. David's problems,however, really came about because of personal issues. David's personal life was a mess. He had a lapse in leadership. He should have gone off to war like kings in that day did. He didn't. (REGRET LATER) Then he went into an adulterous affair. (REGRET) David ended up being the father of Bathsheba's son. (REGRET) David orchestrated the murder of Bathsheba's husband. (REGRET).

The thing about regret is that it comes on the heels AFTER a situation of sin,wrongdoing or even missed moments. Perhaps if regret were to come first, it would keep us from foolishness but it doesn't work that way. David was full of regret after his baby son died. He hated all of the sin that he had been a part of. Psalm 51 is one of the best portions of Scripture that deals with the aftermath of sin when the sinner has come to his or her spiritual senses. For instance, David's first step was in verse 3:

For I acknowledge my transgressions:

and my sin is ever before me.

Let me tell you, that's regret big time. It must be the first step in dealing with regret or guilt. We live in a day when no one wants to be accountable for wrongdoing. When sin isn't acknowledged, it will stick to the soul like fur on a cat's back.  

We also must recognize who has been offended in the process. Verse 4 says:

Against thee, thee only, have I

sinned, and done this evil

in thy sight...

Did you know that the only one you can sin against is God? Did David sin against Bathsheba or her husband...NO? He hurt them, he offended them and did them horrible damage but his sin was against God Himself. He broke God's commands and that's the best definition of sin you will find anywhere. David, king that he was, humbled himself before God and others and confessed his sin.

David confessed his need of God to step into his life with His mercy to do some real damage control. Look at verse 1:

Have mercy upon me, O God, according

to thy loving kindness: according unto

the multitude of thy tender mercies,

blot out my transgressions.

Some translators use the word “stain” in place of transgressions. Have you ever spilled something on a favorite article of clothing and knew that stain would probably never come out? I'm thinking of times when that's happened to me. The worse stains for me have been....mustard, blueberries, spaghetti sauce, ball point ink and you could add to this list. (Please don't send me any remedies.) The stains of sin are different. There's nothing that can remove our sin but one thing...blood...the blood of Jesus. David pleaded with God to wash him in and out and to cleanse him from all sin.

That's how David handled things and those steps should be the steps we take as well. We must be sorrowful for acknowledged sin and plead for God's forgiveness and cleansing. There are a few more things we need to do from that point on.

Rather than letting Satan beat us up over past sin, we should use that regret to teach us some life lessons in either what to do or what not to do in the future.

• We should keep our focus on God, the One who has forgiven us, and not on past sin.
• Determine to live lives that will please God...a life with a clear conscience. It means being determined to change our ways, making all necessary corrections.
• As impossible as the three above things appear to be, we must remember that we have a Source of strength and power in these personal skirmishes with the enemy of our souls and He stands ready to help. Prayer is a huge key in all of these struggles.
  

Pray for us: for we trust we

have a good conscience, in

all things willing to live honestly.

Hebrews 13:18

I'm so grateful that we love and serve the God of the second (and third, and fourth, and fifth, etc) chance. When forgiven by Him, there are no spots or stains left for us to deal with. They are covered...gone. With all of that in place, we can walk in spiritual freedom and victory.

Dear Father...Forgive me for my casual attitude toward sin. Keep me sensitive, Holy Spirit, when I do anything that displeases You. May I be quick to confess my sin and even quicker to change in my life those things that need changed. When thoughts of regret and guilt arise, may I quickly turn them over to You to calm my spirit. I love you. Amen.