Everyone has some type of regret. No one can get through life without wishing that you didn’t make a bad decision, because of the consequences of that decision. You wished you had stayed in touch with some good friends, who were your best buddies and someone drops dead unexpectedly. Or you regret breaking up with the love of your life or maybe getting dumped by them.
Regretfully is used when you are full or regrets, like when you called in sick from work, and you decide to leave home and go out to get a quick bite, and who do you run into, the job’s biggest snitch. BUSTED!
Regretful describes the feeling of being sorry for something that you did or didn’t do, or something that happened.
Regret is a feeling of sorrow, wishing you could do something differently or undo an action. So when you are regretful, you might feel frustrated, disappointed with yourself, embarrassed, or even sad.
Paul said, “Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Although I did regret it, I now see that my letter caused you sorrow, but only for a short time. And now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us…” (2 Corinthians 7:8-9).
The Bible has much to say about shame and regret, and believe me, there are plenty of examples of people in the Bible who have experienced these feelings.
Can you imagine the shame and regret Adam and Eve must have felt after their sin? They were in the perfect world, in the perfect situation, with the perfect relationship with God.
Can you imagine how Peter felt, the shame and embarrassment and regret, right after the Passover meal? Peter tells Jesus that he would lay down his life for Him. Jesus responds by telling him that on that very night, Peter would not deny Him once, but three times.
Everybody was born with a sin nature, that is the natural inclination to sin. Our God is sovereign, and He had a plan to redeem us, through His Son, Jesus Christ. God gave us a choice for salvation and eternal life with Him.
The Bible teaches us that, when we confess our sins and have faith in Christ, we become His children. We are cleanse from all of our unrighteousness. We can cast our sins on Him and they will be removed as far as the east is from the west.
Yes, some of us regret our mistakes, but we don’t have to beat ourselves up about them. For those of us who can’t move forward and is living in the past, maybe you can find comfort in Romans 8:1, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
We are sinners, but we are justified by faith. We may have a shameful past, but we have a better glorious future. We used to walk in foolishness, but now we walk in Christ.
God has forgiven us of those things, and sins that we feel ashamed of and regret. Now we can stop dictating that imagery letter in our heads, with the closing valediction of, “Regretfully Yours”.
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