Regret: How to Move ForwardSample

Day 1: Regret

Regret is a powerful emotion that can trap you into being stuck, like in quicksand, if left unchecked. Regret is often tied to guilt, but it doesn’t have to be. A person can feel regret even if they didn’t do anything sinful. Sometimes we may make a choice that wasn’t wrong, but later wish we’d chosen differently. 

This amazing app has some really great plans on guilt and how to overcome, so this devotional will focus on regret and how to move forward, regardless of the presence of guilt.

Regret can trap us because it can lead to replaying the events of our decisions over and over again in our minds, all the while wishing we would have done something different. The impact of the regret is dependent on how big the decision is. If you chose the wrong item off the restaurant menu, you might regret the decision for a few hours until the next time you eat. If you feel like you made the wrong career move or that you chose the wrong spouse, you might be thinking about that for a while. Feelings of regret can lead to lots of other emotions like frustration, anger, depression, shame, anxiety, stress, etc. and make us spiritually and mentally unhealthy.

In these instances of major regret, the only one who can free us is Jesus, so we will look to the scriptures together for our solution. We’ll take a look at a few examples of regret in the lives of Esau, David, and Saul. Then we’ll discover the path on how to move forward.

The number one thing to keep in mind throughout this devotional is that no matter what, "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28 NIV)