Remove Regret

Regret is a total waste of time, and if you are engaged in it, you need to stop. Regret is simply grieving over a past situtation. Maybe you wish you had made a different decision, handled something better, or said something in another way. But, once you have identified what you can learn from the situtation and repented of any sin that may have been involved, you need to move on and forget it. Regret involves dwelling too much on the past and it robs you of your present and your future. One of the definitions of regret noted on dictionary.com is “to think of with a sense of loss;” which is not a productive use of your time at all.

And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses ended. Deuteronomy 34:8 (KJV)

Now when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, all the house of Israel mourned for Aaron thirty days. Numbers 20:29 (KJV)

These verses tell us that mourning and grieving is to be for only a period of time, then we are to move on. This is true of grieving over the death of a loved one, and it also applies to grieving over our mistakes and past failures.

The enemy loves to use regret as a weapon against us because it can paralyze us and keep us from doing what the Lord wants us to do right now. We cannot go back and change something that has already been done, so regret is counter-productive. It keeps us locked in the past, and as a result we fail to do what we should in the present.

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, And He delivered them out of their distresses. Psalm 107:6 (KJV)

Always remember that if we make a mistake, God can fix it for us. He will deliver us out of problems of our own making, so we should refuse to regret them. Repent and move on.

If you are tempted to look back at something in your past that you wish you could change, resist that temptation by choosing to look at the good that God has done and will do for you. We can remove regret from our lives if we are vigilant to reject thoughts about past errors. When we walk in freedom from regret, our focus is on the present and future, and we can be productive for the kingdom and at peace with ourselves.