Elom reflects on Scott's reflections: Regretful?

I have been dreading this post… Regret.

Regret has held me back for a very long time. Regret is one of the reasons it took me so long to realize that God is merciful, and that He wanted to forgive my past sins. Many of the regrets I have are related to willful disobedience. I knew that some of the decisions I made were completely wrong, and would end up hurting everyone involved, but I would act on these decisions anyway. Consequences? I didn’t want to deal with them just yet, I could think about them later… The only problem with this philosophy is that later always came sooner than I expected.

One of my favorite songs: “Non, je ne regrette rien” (I have no regrets) by Edith Piaf is, I think, a good example of how God wants to show His mercy. The entire song talks about how the singer doesn’t regret any of the things (good or bad) she has done, or the things people have done to her. She doesn’t care about the past, she is starting over. I love the end of the song when she says about her new love:

“I have no regrets,
Because my life and my happiness start with you”

It really is all about the clean slate made possible by the Son of God. He already forgave me, because He loves me.

“(Love) keeps no records of wrongs” 1 Corinthians 13:5

I can spend months, years focusing on the past regrets, and it can be therapeutic in a way. I have definitely learned a lot from my past! On the hand, how long is too long? I sometimes need to make a conscious effort to forgive myself, the way God has forgiven me. I also need to make more efforts to obtain the forgiveness of others I have hurt. Each time I feel this sense of guilt (next week’s topic) or regret creeping into my heart, I remember that:

“God did not send his Son into the world to condemn to the world, but to save the world through him” John 3:17

God is merciful!

EED