No "Regerts"

2 Corinthians 7:9-19 - "Now I am happy, but not because I hurt your feelings. It is because God used your hurt feelings to make you turn back to him, and none of you were harmed by us. When God makes you feel sorry enough to turn to him and be saved, you don't have anything to feel bad about. But when this world makes you feel sorry, it can cause your death."

Saw that commercial on TV recently of the guy who gets the tattoo on his arm that says, No Regerts. Obviously that is a play on words as the poor man probably regrets going to that artist who couldn't spell. On the other hand, it is possible this guy made the tattoo himself on AI, spelled it wrong and insisted that the artist do the tattoo exactly as he had it on the paper. Many of us have something in our past that we regret. Maybe a job change, a relationship we failed in, a car or motorcycle that we bought thinking it would look cool but in reality it was a dog. I wonder sometimes about whether God has any regrets about how he made some us. Did he make us a little too independent in our free will. Would he have changed the color of the sky to green, would trees look better with the color of fuchsia or maybe he would have created us with glowing eyes like a cat or given us more color choice in hair rather than red, blond, black, brown or gray. Seems like changing hair color to green, red, purple, orange is the way of our society anymore.

Regret is a painful emotional state as we blame ourself for some kind of negative outcome, wishing a past decision or action had come our different. It's a mental check that constantly says, "what if." Some of us live in regret our entire life. We live in a state of constantly saying to ourselves, "if only I had..." There are many things, I wish I hadn't said or done to others in the past. Wishing that my tongue was better bridles or my actions less impulsive. Sometimes, I think it is even "pre-regret" over something I am about to do or say. Regret was never meant to live with us permanently. It is meant to help us make sense of that thing we did and help us to change going forward. Wallowing in regret is like a pig in mudhole. There is a degree of comfort from the sting, but it is temporary and living in the mudhole forever keeps us stuck in life.

One of Satan's strongest tactics is to have us live in constant regret and sorrow. If He is able to keep us focused on all that we have failed at, he keep us from seeing the future and hope that Christ brings. I know many people who say things like, "I can't get saved, I am too bad. Or they may believe that their life has been so horrid that no one including God can love them ever again. That is lie that is used against us and keeps us from seeing the grace and compassion of Christ.

Paul writes, "When God makes you feel sorry enough to turn to him and be saved, you don't have anything to feel bad about. But when this world makes you feel sorry, it can cause your death." Proverbs 3: 5-6 sayd, " With all your heart you must trust the LORD and not your own judgment. Always let him lead you, and he will clear the road for you to follow."\

Satan will keep you in a cell with your self-talk and constant regret, but God releases us from those things when we understand that grace is given and never earned. Through him we are given a new start at a new life. As the scripture says, "the old is passed away and the new has come." If you struggle with constant regret and wish that you were different remember that God created us in His perfect world. Sometimes we create potholes in our way. Things names regret, guilt, hatred, anger but God also creates for us a path of righteousness that lead to Him. When we give up our "regerts," when we give our pride, when we give up those things that keep us in the cell of this world, let us recall those words from Ephesians 2:8-9 "You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God's gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own. It isn't something you have earned, so there is nothing you can brag about."

No regrets, just lessons.

Much love

Preach