Regret

Regret: everyone experiences it at some point. I recently sold my truck before I really needed to at a price that was too low. And, afterward, I was full of regret. I had no plan for what I was going to buy to replace it, which led me to spiral into fearful desperation. I knew I had just made one bad decision. How could I make another major decision—what car to buy and how much to spend? My situation is not new or unusual. The biblical story of the first people, Adam and Eve, is characterized by regret. They sinned against God’s explicit command. They were guilty, and, therefore, they experienced the regret of sin. The Bible is littered with similar stories. Consider David’s adultery, Esau’s birthright sale, Jonah’s bitterness, Thomas’s unbelief, Peter’s pride, Judas’s betrayal the list goes on and on. Some of those individuals overcame the regret of sin; some didn’t. The difference in whether someone overcomes regret or not is simple: grace. We often live under the delusion that personal perfection is a possibility. But over and over, as sinful and guilty people in need of a Savior, we are confronted with our failures and flaws. No amount of education or training will rid us of these qualities. Fortunately, there is hope. “Where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more,” Romans 5:20 tells us. That is good news indeed for flawed people. The grace of Christ gives us hope. His sacrificial death took God’s just wrath for our sin. So, when we are united to Jesus by faith through His grace, our sins are nailed to the cross and we receive Jesus’ sinlessness—so it is like we never sinned. Our regrets and the sins that caused them are washed away in a flood of Christ’s forgiveness. They are gone forever and have lost their hold on us. • Mike Hurley • What regrets do you carry with you? • Read Romans 3:21-26. Why is perfection an unattainable goal as sinful humans? Why is Jesus’ perfection enough? • Have you brought your guilt and regret to Jesus so that He can take care of them? To learn more about what it means to know Him through faith, check out our “Know Jesus” page. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more. Romans 5:20b (CSB)

Read Verses:

Psalm 103:12; Romans 5:20; Ephesians 2:8-10