<http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/>
2008/12/02
<http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/en-US/EmailPosting.htm?Article=%7BAAC716E5-842D-46F4-9173-9709B5DEFF7D%7D>
Releasing Your Regrets
by Rick Warren
People who cover over their sins will not prosper. But if they confess and
forsake them, they will receive mercy. Proverbs 28:13 (NLT)
**** *** *** ****
How often do you play the "if only" game?
· If only I had it to do over.
· If only I had listened sooner.
· If only I could erase the past.
· If only I could forgive myself.
Because no one is perfect, we all have regrets. We've all made bad choices,
said foolish things, wasted time, and hurt ourselves and others.
How do you release those regrets?
Here are some strategies that *don't* work:
1. *We bury them.* Burying the past doesn't work. Like creatures from a
horror movie, unresolved regrets come back to haunt us over and over.
Minimizing ("It wasn't a big deal"), rationalizing ("Everyone does it"), and
compromising (lowering your standards) are ways we try to bury our regrets.
2. *We blame others.* This tactic is as old as Adam and Eve. When Adam
sinned, he took it like a man – he blamed his wife! We use blame to balance
out our guilt.
3. *We beat ourselves.* We try to pay for our guilt unconsciously through
illness, depression, setting ourselves up for failure, and other forms of
self-punishment. The problem with beating up on yourself is this: your
conscience never knows when to stop! Many spend their entire lives in
self-condemnation.
*What does God want me to do with my regrets?*
**
· *Admit my guilt.* Own up to it.Don't make excuses. The Bible says, "People
who cover over their sins will not prosper. But if they confess and forsake
them, they will receive mercy" (Proverbs 28:13 NLT).
· *Accept Christ's forgiveness.* He's waiting to clean your slate.Ask him to
clear your conscience, and then remember "there is no condemnation for those
who belong to Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1 NLT).
**
· *Forgive yourself and focus on the future.* "Do not remember the past
events, pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something
new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in
the wilderness, rivers in the desert" (Isaiah 43:18-19 HCSB).
(c) 2008 Purpose Driven Life. All rights reserved.
Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback
Church<http://www.saddleback.com/>in Lake Forest, Calif., one of
America's largest and best-known churches. In
addition, Rick is author of the New York Times bestseller The Purpose Driven
Life<http://www.saddlebackresources.com/NR/exeres/A0728D73-BD00-42D0-8240-801393296740.htm>and
The
Purpose Driven
Church<http://www.saddlebackresources.com/en-US/Resources/ProductDetail.htm?sku=PB210000>,
which was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th
Century. He is also founder of Pastors.com <http://www.pastors.com/>, a
global Internet community for ministers.
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HERE<https://www.saddlebackresources.com/en-US/MyAccount/CommunicationPreferences.htm>for
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--
'Unless you change what you do, you will always have what you've got.'
- Jim Rohn
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