Learning to Live without Regrets
2 Tim. 4: 6-9
Congratulation graduates. I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is that you’re graduating. The bad news is that you’re not through learning. I want to suggest to you today that one of the greatest lessons to learn is how to live without regrets. Would you like to do that? There is no better resolution any of us can make than to live without regrets. The question is not “Can it be done?” but “What does it take to do it?” How can we live a life that will leave no regrets?
Guidelines for living without regrets are found in Paul’s testimony recorded in 2 Tim. 4:6-8. Just before his death, Paul reviewed and evaluated his life. He had departed on ships many times in his missionary career. Now the time was near for his final departure. He was meeting with some friends near the time of his execution. Some scholars think these words were spoken the night before his execution by beheading. His final comments were words of looking ahead; however, as he looked ahead, he looked back. He viewed his life as a great race. Paul affirmed that he won the race by running it well. Consequently, he would receive the crown of victory. In looking back, he gave us the keys to living a victorious life. Paul said that we must do five things to live without regrets:
· Make a genuine _______________ to our ________________
(1 Cor. 10:31; Col. 3:23; 2 Tim. 4:7a)
· Be willing to ________________ our ________________
(2 Tim. 4:7b; Heb. 12:1)
· Learn to be ________________ with our ________________
(2 Timothy 4:7b; Phil. 4:11-12)
· Believe that there is ________________ in our _______________
(2 Timothy 4:7a; James 1:2-4)
· Make a ________________ of __________________
(1 Cor. 9:27; 2 Tim. 4:7c)