How can I let go of the regrets I have for what I’ve done?

June 20, 2014: How can I let go of the regrets I have for what I’ve done? Please "Share" this new Precious Prodigal post: http://bit.ly/1no0Jom

Phil 3:13 "but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before"

In a perfect world with perfect parents giving us perfect love and setting the perfect example, we would have grown up to be…what would we have grown up to be? The truth is we would have grown up to be just exactly what we are…poor broken sinners in need of a Savior and in continuous need of forgiveness.

How do I know that? I know it because Adam and Eve did have all that. And in that perfect world with that perfect “parent,” who gave them perfect love and set the perfect example, they still chose to exercise their free will to sin. You see, we don’t sin because we live in an imperfect world. We sin because it is in our nature to sin.

Because of that very basic truth, I’ve never met a person who didn’t have regrets, some more than others. But all of us have them, and the longer we’re alive, the more regrets we are likely to have. We might not voice those regrets to anyone but carry them deep in our hearts instead, accusing and beating ourselves up as no one else would do. And those regrets are some of the things we need to let go.

Luke 7:37-50 tells the story of a woman who came to Jesus when He was having dinner at the home of a Pharisee. Whether her unbound hair indicated she was a prostitute or not, the Scripture identifies her as a “sinner.” She came to Jesus weeping and washed his feet with her tears, dried them with her hair and poured precious oil on his feet.

Her repentance and sorrow over her sin were genuine, and Jesus said about her that, “her sins, which are many, are forgiven.” To the woman herself He said her faith had saved her and she could “go in peace.” (Luke 7:50)

Throughout His three-year ministry, Jesus welcomed broken sinners to Himself, forgave their sins and sent them away free from the burden of sin they had carried. No wonder the worst sinners came to Him and no wonder the Pharisees criticized Him saying, “This man receiveth sinners…” (Luke 15:2) He received and forgave sinners then, and He continues to receive and forgive sinners now.

If we have been forgiven and God does not accuse or condemn us, why do we continue to accuse and condemn ourselves? If we have confessed that sin we can’t seem to forgive ourselves for, the Bible says God has removed it as far from us as the east is from the west. (Psalm 103:12)

It doesn’t define us anymore, and we need to stop letting it define us...even in our own minds. Paul suggested a better way: “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before…”

There’s a wonderful future out there for you and for me that includes a plan for our lives that God is just waiting to implement. Maybe it’s time to accept His forgiveness, let go of the shame and the regrets we have about the past, and let Him take us into that exciting future.

Challenge for Today: Can you, just for today, stop reminding yourself of past mistakes and sins? Can you let them go?