Chapter Six: Regrets

Outstretched arms of forgiveness

You're bound to make wrong choices sometimes because you're human, but I still love you. If I were to love only perfect people, there wouldn't be anyone for Me to love because everyone falls short at times.1 There is no one who gets it all right. I don't ask or expect perfection of you. 

It saddens Me when you willfully do wrong, but I don't hold it against you if you are sincerely sorry. Instead, I extend My arms in forgiveness and draw you close to Me. My forgiveness is a manifestation of My love for you.

Depending on the situation, you may still have to live with the consequences of your wrongdoing, but once you ask Me for forgiveness, I forgive. It's that simple! From that moment on, I don't even remember your sin.2

As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great are My mercies toward you.3 I erase the sins of the past and offer you a new start.  

Where you go from there is up to you. It largely depends on your desire to change and your determination to leave behind the things of the past so you can move forward in My love. Though you fall, I will always be there to pick you up. My loving help, like My forgiveness, is endless.

1. Romans 3:23
2. 1 John 1:9
3. Hebrews 8:12
4. Psalm 51:1
Psalm 103:11

Admit your need

I see into your heart and know your regrets. I long to release you from their weight and take away the pain and hurt they cause you. But first you need to give them to Me; you need to ask for help.

I help those who admit they need Me. So don't try to hide the hurt in your heart from Me or yourself. Don't try to pretend it's not there, and don't think that I will think any less of you for it. I already know everything about you, and it doesn't change My love for you one iota.

You feel you deserve to bear the load of guilt and remorse that you do, but that's not the way it's meant to be. You've made mistakes, but I died for the express purpose of lifting the responsibility for your mistakes and sins from your shoulders. Ask Me to forgive you, and I will both forgive you and free you from that weight.

If only...

Sometimes you feel that if only you could turn back time, retrace your steps, and undo mistakes, things would be so much better. If only you could apply what you know now to past situations, you could reverse painful experiences and possibly change the course of your life. But the truth is, those situations—mistakes included—are what have made you the person you are today. The most painful and trying circumstances were the ones that gave you the most strength and maturity. Through your mistakes you have learned invaluable lessons. Mistakes also help you to be more humble and therefore more loving, and that makes you more useful to Me and easier for others to live with. 

If you were able to travel back in time and change some of your decisions and actions, you would very likely be unhappy with the results. You wouldn't have nearly as much depth of character as you do today. So instead of regretting the past, be thankful for what it has taught you.

Start anew today

Life is all about the little decisions you make every day. Decisions of the past have had their effect, but every new day can be a new start. No matter what has happened up till now, you have a chance to make the right decisions today.

Don't waste time reliving the pain of past mistakes and wrong decisions. That only saps your power to do what you can do today. You can't change the past, but the future is what you make it, starting right now, so take full advantage of the present.

Learn from past mistakes and put them behind you today. Forgive those who have wronged you and ask forgiveness from those you have wronged. That probably won't be easy, but don't put it off.—Do it today. Look to Me and My Word for fresh courage and hope, starting today. Dream new dreams today. Set new goals today. Spend your time on things that truly count today. Love your family today. Be a friend today. Do things better, starting today.

With My help, your future can be filled with wonderful accomplishment and fulfillment that will more than make up for past disappointments—and it all starts today.

Forgive and forget

My heart aches to see the heartache you have felt, for I feel the pain, the anger, the regret, the remorse, the feelings of being hurt and angered by the faults and mistakes and even the sins of others. I also know that it's human nature to want to retaliate, to want revenge, and to fight against forgiving and burying your differences. To truly forgive and forget is one of the most difficult things for anyone.

Only through Me can you be freed from these roots of bitterness that entangle your heart. I am love, I am forgiveness, and I'm here for you, waiting to lift this load of bitterness that you've been carrying around. Take it off and give it to Me. Just say, "Jesus, take this. I don't want it anymore." I will make it disappear forever. Together we will bury it in My love, so that you can once again feel the brightness and lightness of My love and the happy joy of My Spirit. I will make you whole again.