I promised myself when I was in my thirties that I would live a life without regrets, without any “shoulda, woulda, couldas…” But the truth of the matter is that if we are being honest, we ALL have regrets. But here is the thing – instead of focusing on what we have done wrong (especially if you have repented and asked the Lord for forgiveness), what we SHOULD focus on is what have we lesson have we learned from the regret and how can we use what we’ve learned to help others and to glorify the Lord?
I have found that my biggest regrets have been my deepest lessons. (And this is going out to any of you that are currently prodigals or backslidden, so please listen well… ) I’m not proud to say that I was once a prodigal, one who turned from the Father down a wrong road, and yes – I WILL tell you that CAN happen to TRUE believers… That’s why I always stress that it is SO important not to judge someone else UNLESS you have walked in their shoes. When you willfully choose to sin, there ARE consequences to your actions, consequences AND regrets that you have to live with every day of your life, even when you realize the error of your ways and you (as the prodigal son did in Luke 15:11-32) form regrets. If you are not careful, ol’ slewfoot will try and obliterate you by forever bringing those mistakes first and foremost to the front of your mind. Why? Because THAT is what the accuser does! But here is the thing to remember – if you have repented, if you have asked God to forgive you – than YOU ARE FORGIVEN. Jesus said in Luke 15:4-5:
“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ “
Listen Prodigals – if you haven’t already made your way back home to the Father, do so! Don’t believe the lies of the accuser that you can’t go back to God, because YOU CAN. How do I know? BECAUSE I DID! My fall away from Him is not one of my proudest moments, believe me when I tell you – it had me on my face before Him. I think that because I had never experienced doing much wrong (although sin is sin and we sin every day in one way or another), the biggest lesson that I learned from my rebellious time is that we CANNOT earn Heaven. We can’t! You can’t DO enough “good works” in order to enter Heaven. You can’t be a “good enough person.” LISTEN:
WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE ALONE. WE ARE ACCEPTED BECAUSE OF THE SACRIFICE JESUS MADE ON OUR BEHALF. JESUS DIED A DEATH ON THE CROSS THAT HE DID NOT DESERVE. HE TOOK OUR SINS UPON HIMSELF AND CHOSE TO BE OUR SACRIFICIAL LAMB. THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD.
That’s the ONLY restoration, redemption that can allow us to enter into a RIGHT relationship with God. It is NOTHING BUT the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from ALL unrighteousness. And my prodigal time taught me that lesson WELL. I am NO better than Sister So-and-So or Brother Over-There. The only difference between me and an unbeliever is the fact that I am covered with the precious blood of Jesus. When we repent of sin, the Bible says in Micah 7:20:
“He throws our sins in the sea of forgetfulness.”
Psalms 103:12 says:
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
If God in His mercy, love and forgiveness does that with our sins when we confess and repent of them, who are WE to hold on to them? I will admit that forgiving myself has been the hardest thing to do – but if you don’t choose to learn from your mistakes, but to hold on to them you can become “stuck” in your walk with the Lord, because while the Lord has forgiven you and forgotten it, you haven’t forgiven yourself and cannot move on, and God WANTS you to move forward. The best way we can turn a regret around, is to use it as a teachable moment when Holy Spirit gives you a divine appointment with someone else who is struggling with whatever it is you went through yourself. Use the lesson to be part of your testimony for the Lord! Help someone else to see that NONE of us are perfect and that we ALL make mistakes! There is NO degree of sin with the Lord, sin IS sin. Be more compassionate (and less judgmental) with others. Help others to realize that it truly IS nothing but God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness and love that differentiates us from those who have not accepted Jesus as Savior, made Him Lord OVER their lives. I have heard so many people tell me that my transparency is what shines forth the light and love of Christ! If you feel led to share whatever your prodigal experience is/has been with someone Holy Spirit puts in your life for the Lord to minister to, than it is a lesson WELL learned! I regret my stupidity, but I praise God that through my prodigal time I learned SO much more about myself, what I needed to change, what I needed healing from. I tried to go make amends for the people my prodigal time hurt, but that is the MOST you can do. If someone chooses not to forgive you, that is their decision (and they will be held accountable for their unforgiveness, not you…)What have I done in those instances? I intercede in prayer on my own for them on their behalf. I pray that God will heal the wounds, and if it is His will, that a restoration will take place. Listen, it is not anyone’s right to judge you. It is not OUR right to judge anyone else – the Bible says in Matthew 7:2:
“For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
When Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive his brother (or someone who sins against him) Jesus said in Matthew 18:21-22:
“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” “
Jesus taught that forgiveness has no limits. We are to walk a walk of forgiveness of Jesus did. We are to always remember the price that was purchased by Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. We are to repent when we sin, and ask God to check our hearts. I always think of the following parable Jesus told in Matthew 18:23-35:
“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins, he grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back. But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
The parables Jesus gave our not only relevant to that day and time, but they are relevant for the here and now. The Word of God IS the Living Word and the examples provided in it are for us today! Hebrews 4:12 tells us:
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
And also 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Sometimes the very hardest thing to do is not in the forgiving others – but in the forgiving of ourselves… How have you changed by the mistakes you have made? We ALL make mistakes, the only perfect person who ever lived was Jesus. As long as we have breath in our bodies, we will grow, we will make mistakes, the BIGGEST mistake we could make is to not walk in the knowledge that repentance washes our sins away. Hey – even right now as you read these words, Jesus is sitting on the right side of the Father interceding on your behalf. We need to glorify God through ALL moments of our lives, take everything we learn in this life and glorify God with it. Every mess I’ve made so far with my life (and I’ve made a lot of them…) I have chosen to transform into a message that will honor God, such as the one you are reading RIGHT now. Thank God for His grace, His mercy, His forgiveness AND His love which is new for us every morning should we choose to accept it. It’s ours through Jesus. Thank You Lord.
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