Living with Regrets

The following is an excerpt from a blog post by Ed Welch found here. It is a post about regrets, how we should deal with them in the Christian life. What is that balance between acknowledging sin and feeling bad for our failures and living in the grace and mercy of Christ?

Here are some of his thoughts:

It feels so right – so spiritual – to live with regrets. It means you feel bad for the wrong things you have done or think you have done, and that sounds like a good thing. If you forget those wrongs, you are acting like they were no big deal.

How many “if only’s” do you have in your life?

....

Maybe you believe your regrets will be your protective talisman to help make sure you don’t repeat past sins. That makes sense and sounds spiritual, but it’s a false gospel. It is the sweet mercies of God that compel us to fight sin. One way to identify the nefarious nature of regrets is that they do not give mercy the prominent seat at the table. These regrets might be so stubborn that they will only leave through repentance. While you have been repenting of your perceived contribution to past regrets, the real reason to repent is much closer to the present: you are saying, “Lord I don’t believe that you cover my past, though you probably cover the pasts of other people, and I certainly don’t believe that confidence in your goodness and hope for tomorrow is even permissible.” Call it unbelief. If you want to get nasty, call it pride, in which you believe yourself rather than the Lord. Either way, repent.

I have my own regrets—you have yours. God’s mercies are stockpiled even higher.

Regrets of the past can keep us locked in sin in the present if we do not accept God's mercy. Especially as we enter this holiday season, we should remember that Christ came to free us from the sins of the past, present, and future. Sola gratia.