How should a christian deal with regret? What should their response to it be. I really have a hard time with regrets over things that have happened in my life and especially decisions that I have made. I know that my sin is forgiven but there are still times when I feel overwhelmed by regret over things that I can not change. There are days when I really wish I could just go back in time.
Well, first you want to have godly regret that leads to repentance and not just regret like Esau who was only sorry because of the consequence.
Also, if there are consequences from the things we have done bad we should not always see them as trials but more like judgments that we have laid on ourselves and should not always ask for them to leave like David who had his child die.
You can allow the guilt of regret to motivate you to be righteous and make up for it in love.
You shouldn't allow it to have negative effects on you because then you will only have regrets for allowing regret to get the best of you.
God is very wise and powerful and will often make up for the things the canker worm has eaten over the years or He can even turn the things that happened badly into good.
Lastly, I guess just learn from it as the saying goes when you fall make sure to pick something up. I think that we have to know that God knows our weaknesses He knows that we are but flesh and as we look on children who fail in certain areas just because they are so young so God has mercy on us when we pray I believe help my unbelief or I want to I am just so weak I believe God honors that. This fault you may have had if you are as you say repentant and forgiven and all know that the weight of it was placed on Jesus and that you are blameless and allow it to cause you to adore Jesus even more for what He has done.
I think the real issue I have with dealing with regret has to do with the effects my choices have had on others. I look at some of the long tern effects on someone that I am close to and I see that they are suffering some consequences for decisions that I have made. There are times when I wish I could travel back in time and change the choices that I made so others that are close to me would not have to deal with the sadness or painful effects of it all? I know that there is no way to do that but it still ways heavy on my heart for them.
I think that your right the best way to deal with it is to make sure that I don't keep on making the same bad choices that I did in the past. I need to keep my focus on what it means to walk in the newness of Christ. I suppose the guilt could be an attack from the enemy to keep my from moving forward in Jesus.
Thanks for taking the time to write to me.
rdg
We learn from our experiences; and some of them
are very hard and difficult. But GOD in HIS
great mercy does not remember our past trans-
gressions; He has forgiven and forgotten them!
Leave the past at the cross!!
RDG, I have regrets in my 58 years of life, and especially some from during my 20 year rebellion from my Lord. Some persons that were affected by my lawlessness I cry out to God to forgive their transgressions and to charge them to me, as I deserve.
When God washed me, he washed me clean. He took my old hard heart, and gave me a new heart. And He put His Spirit within me to teach me His laws. I am a new creature in Christ. But the scars of my transgressions will be there till I receive my new body and I rise to meet Him at His coming. I can feel regret for my past, Godly regret, but I also remain vigilant to my enemy's desire to use anything he can to impede my journey with Christ. God's blessings to you.
Praise God!, That His Grace is sufficient, Amen.
When you repent, God forgives and forgets, Amen.
We are told NOT to look back, so start looking forward in the Lord, YOU are Forgiven, Amen. satan will try to keep you in condemnation and self pity to hinder your walk, but God says.. You are more than a conqueror, Amen. Every time you have those negative thoughts in your head, know it's satan, so stand against it and Speak aloud the Truth of God..There is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION ! to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Rom. 8:5. Please go to Morris Cerullo helpline and request these two books... How to win the Battlefield of the Mind. and How to Win the Battle of the Tongue. I believe these books will Bless you and open your eye's, in the Name of Jesus, Amen. IT IS WELL.
Sister, I know the feeling. I find it hard to imagine anyone that does not have reason to regret the past and wish they could go back and undo what has been done. I can share what God has spoken to me about regret. Php 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Paul had a LOT of things to regret, but he had learned to forget the past. I know that, "Just forget it" sounds a little bit simplistic, but it is what Paul had learned to do. The enemy loves to keep us bound up in our past failures. I would say when the feelings of regret try to overtake you, take that as an opportunity to spend time renewing your mind from the word of God about what has happened to you when you were born again, and spend time praising God for what He has done in delivering you from the past. Here is some scripture that may help. 2 Cor. 5:17-21. All things are new and we have been reconciled to God by Christ. If I have been reconciled to the creator of the universe, what hold can by past actions have on me???
Why should you remember something that even God no longer acknowledges? When something is under the blood, it is under the blood; it is no more. If God has washed you clean by the blood of His Son, there should be nothing to regret. There are sometimes consequences for our actions, and sometimes we just have to live with them--but the actions themselves are no more once you've been forgiven. To continue to carry the burden of your sin is to say that you don't need Christ's sacrifice--and we all need it desperately.
Pray. Pray until something happens, pray until the regret is gone.
thank you everyone for your thoughts and your prayers. I will keep seeking the Lord in this area of my life and I know that He will help me to over come this struggle.
rdg
Well your not alone in this, everyone who is anyone in Christ has suffered with regret. Paul the Apostle had regrets about persecuting and killing members of the Church before his conversion. A messenger of Satan kept buffeting him on this point and this kept him humble.
I regret some things that I have done to certain people and everytime I see them I am always apologizing, and they are so gracious saying that it's all under the blood brother.
The real issue is not being able to forgive ourselves.
I've had to train myself to not apologize for something that has been forgiven and dealt with.
There comes a point in your life that you stop believing that you can't change the past. The things that happened happened and nothing can be done about it. But no amount of words can make us do anything, but we can take our needs to the LORD and pray that He will show us the way out of that mess.
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