12/23/2025
Have the things of the world died to you? Are you a different person today than you were the day before you first believed? Have you asked the Lord to forgive you for your sins today and then taken a deep and refreshing breath of relief once they were lifted from you? Or do you ask for and receive His forgiveness only to neglect the fruit of that redemption, which is the peace, joy, and rest He means for you to be blessed with? Let’s look at this dastardly ploy of Satan who attempts to steal the heavenly peace and joy of God away from us by keeping us spiritually bound to sin and our continued focus on another one of his lies… which is the need for our ongoing spiritual regret and conviction for previously forgiven sins long after the Lord our God and Savior Jesus Christ have cleansed us of them.
“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. We do this every so often, and many of his questions are of interest to me in that I really don’t have a predetermined answer for 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 ever wrestled with things of faith that I regretted, sins long ago forgiven, things I had done or left undone... perhaps things I should have accomplished but didn’t. I sat there for a moment and just looked at him... I had never gone here in thought before; I had never really considered this.
Finally, I told him that I had not felt or 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 am. Once I give those things over to the Lord I walk away from them completely. I know that I am forgiven.
Until that moment, I had never really contemplated this before; and I had never thought about my being this way as anything unusual. This was a trait that was as natural, and unthinking, as breath to me. You see, I am someone who deals in the present. I have issues and troubles just like everyone else, but once I deal with them before God, whether they are physical or spiritual, I let them go. When I sin, I go to the Lord with that sin, and once I have placed my transgression at His feet in tearful contrition, and He has forgiven me, I celebrate His mercy and grace, then walk away from my confessed shortcoming. I might continue to pay a worldly price for that sin (like having to make restitution or by bearing a scar), but my spirit leaves it behind and does not suffer further regret. I feel no sorrow, remorse, or guilt any longer for those things I have been forgiven. If God forgives and separates me from sin, then why shouldn’t I forgive myself? Why should I refuse to release myself from a guilt, regret, and suffering that no longer existed? 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? 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 forward with you? If you are allowing regret and guilt to dwell in you, then the healing and the Peace of Christ can’t find a home in you. 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 their spiritual health... so I pray for them.
I have been undergoing some medical tests recently to identify something that is happening within my body. Like many people I browse the internet looking for reasons why I might be experiencing what I am... you may do this too. I google my symptoms and try 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 wasn’t under such stress, but the reason I bring this up is to show that our spiritual and mental processes, and yes, regret, can have a very pronounced physical impact on us. Not letting God forgive and separate us from our sin can allow a physically detrimental effect to manifest itself in us.
So, as I thought about why I am the way I am regarding regret, it dawned on me that this has a positive effect on my health and spirituality. Don’t get me wrong, there are benefits to reflecting on failure and determining how we could have done better, but not by feeling regret and guilt, or submitting ourselves to self-punishment. We have sayings, or idioms, that help us in this regard; some are, “let bygones be bygones”, and how about “just walk away”, or “turn the other cheek?”
So, my advice to you is to allow God’s grace to heal you spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally, and to personally forgive and separate yourself from the transgression for which you have already received His merciful forgiveness and grace. We often use these words spoken by Jesus when we discuss such forgiveness:
“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 His reference to “others?” Can our Holy Father forgive us if we can’t forgive ourselves? Is regret and remorse a form of denying ourselves the forgiveness Jesus speaks of? Are we falling victim to Satan’s lie if we don’t forgive ourselves as God desires?
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 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 humbled and forgiven by you. If it is your will to forgive, then who am I to refuse you by not forgiving myself? Never let me place and 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 redeemed and forgiven. Defend me against Satan’s desire to undercut your blessings by dragging me back into those feelings of regret, and remorse, as he attempts to convince me that I am unforgiven. Stand by me Merciful Father, and hear me as I say, “get thee behind me Satan”, and let your forgiveness and love calm my spirit always and forever.
“The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.”
Psalm 103:8-13 ESV
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
Psalm 34:18
Amen! Amen! Amen! Hallelujah!
Rich Forbes