12/23/2023
Have certain things of the world died to you? Are you a different person today than you were the day before you first believed? Do you ask the Lord to forgive you for your sins and then take a deep breath of relief when they are lifted from you, or do you ask, but then refuse to allow His total forgiveness to occur in you? Let’s look at this ploy of Satan... our continued spiritual regret and conviction after being forgiven.
“But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
Galatians 6:14 ESV
I had lunch one day with a very good friend who pastors a local church near mine. We do this every so often, and many of his questions for me are interest in that I really don’t have a predetermined answer to them... this day was no different. As we discussed the things we were thankful for over the past year, and those we wished to accomplish in the coming year, he asked me a question that took me aback “do you ever struggle with spiritual regret?” My friend asked if I had ever wrestled with things of faith that I regretted; things I had done or left undone... perhaps things I should have accomplished for the Lord but didn’t. I sat there for a moment and just looked at him... I had never gone here before; I had never really considered this.
Finally, I told him that I had never thought that way about my faith. I told him that it wasn’t that I always did everything right, but that I never looked back in remorse or dwelt on those things in which I had failed. I told him that this wasn’t a conscious decision I had made, but just who I was. Once I give those things over to God then I walk away from them completely, because I am forgiven.
Until that moment with my friend, I had never really contemplated this before; I never thought about my being this way as anything unusual. This was a trait that was as natural, and unthinking, as breathing to me. You see, I deal in the present. I have issues and troubles just like everyone else, but once I have dealt with them, whether they are physical or spiritual, I let them go. When I sin, I go to God with it, and once I have placed my transgression at His feet in tearful contrition, and He has forgiven me, I celebrate His mercy, and walk away from my confessed shortfall. I might continue to pay a worldly price for the sin (like having to make restitution), but my spirit leaves it behind and does not suffer continued regret. I feel no sorrow, remorse, or guilt any longer regarding those things for which I have been forgiven. If God forgives me, then why shouldn’t I? Why would I refuse to release myself of guilt, regret, and suffering? Am I a greater Judge than God Himself?
“as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
Psalms 103:12 ESV
Do you leave your regrets with God when forgiven? Do you ask Him to forgive you, and then allow Him to do so, or do you ask for forgiveness and then pick back up the guilt and regret that led you to contrition in the first place, and continue to carry it with you? If you are allowing regret and guilt to dwell in you, then the healing and Peace of Christ can’t find a home there. As for me it is natural to let go of these things, but I see in others a reluctance, or inability, to do this... and the effect is detrimental to not only their physical health, but their spiritual health as well... I pray for them.
I had been undergoing some medical tests prior to having lunch with my friend. The doctors were trying to identify something that was happening within my body. Like many people I browsed the internet looking for reasons why I might be experiencing what I was... you may do this too. I googled my symptoms and tried to help the doctor diagnose me. There are a couple of things that are counterproductive in doing this, but during one such session of browsing I was searching a certain test result that I had received, and it identified a common cause as being “extreme stress.” I determined that I wasn’t under such stress, but the reason I bring this up is to say that our spiritual and mental processes, and yes regrets, can have a very pronounced physical impact on us. Not letting God forgive and separate us from our sin can cause us to experience physical side effects that manifest themselves in us, and they can be harmful to our health, wellbeing, and spirituality.
So as I thought that day about why I am the way I am, regarding regret, it dawned on me that this has had a positive effect on my health and spirituality. Don’t get me wrong, there is benefit to reflecting on failure and determining how we could have done something better, but not to the point of continuing on with reliving regret, guilt, and self-punishment. We have sayings, or idioms, that help us in this regard “let bygones be bygones”, and how about “just walk away”, or “turn the other cheek?”
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—“
Ephesians 2:4-5 ESV
So we should allow God’s grace to totally heal us spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally, by personally forgiving and separating ourselves from the transgressions for which we have already received His mercy and grace through Christ. We often use these two words spoken regarding Jesus when we discuss forgiveness, don’t we?
“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Matthew 6:14-15 ESV
Have you ever considered that you are included in this scriptural reference to “others?” Can our Father forgive us if we can’t forgive ourselves? Is regret and remorse a form of denying ourselves the forgiveness that Jesus is speaking of, and that God desires to forgive us for? Can we separate ourselves from the suffering, remorse, and regret that our sins cause us… even as God chooses to do? Let’s read this once more…
“as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
Psalm 103:12 KJV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the complete forgiveness you offer me for sin. I thank you for separating my sins from me... as far as the east is from the west. I thank you Holy Father for your Son Jesus Christ who made this possible, and I pray that I will always allow His sacrifice and your grace to be realized in my life. Father, it can be so hard to forgive myself, but I pray that you will continue to strengthen me in this regard. Help me to let go of the regret and remorse that ultimately brought me to the pinnacle of contrition where I was forgiven by you. If it is your will to forgive, then who am I to refuse you? Never let me exercise my selfish will before yours Father, and teach me to forgive myself, and others, as you forgive me. Separate me from damaging regret and remorse; give me the Peace of Christ and the rest in you that comes from being forgiven. Defend me against Satan’s desire to undercut your blessings by dragging me back into those detrimental feelings of regret, and remorse, as he attempts to convince me that I am unforgiven. Stand by me Merciful Father, as I say “get thee behind me Satan”, and let your forgiveness and love calm my spirit always and forevermore. Help me to be as you are, and choose not to remember my sinfulness.
“”I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.””
Isaiah 43:25 KJV
Rich Forbes