Benefitting from Regrets

Someone has said that a life with no regrets is no life at all. I think what they were saying is that regrets go with a person who seeks to live as much in the moment as possible. I believe that is why Jesus spent so much time with Peter. Peter was a man of the moment. Such was the case when he tried to walk on the water or exclaimed that he was willing to die for Jesus or that he alone would be loyal. We now know that he was able to do none of these—regrets that caused him to weep bitterly (Matthew 26:75).

What kind of servant would Peter have been without those moments of passion? What kind of servant would he have been without his reach being greater than his grasp? The gospel might not have spread as far and wide as it did.

To be sure each of us has made mistakes along the way, and many of them quite regrettable. There are things we wish we would not have said, or hurt people we wish we had not hurt or made bad investments, consumed toxic substances, lost some competitive contests, and even been lost in our own self-importance. But perhaps the greatest of our regrets are those things we didn’t do. I would imagine Peter’s greatest regret was not having acknowledged to the servant-girl around the fire over which he was warming his hands that he knew the man of Nazareth (Matthew 26:26-75).

I look at the people in the Bible with such huge regrets that became the singers of God’s song—Joseph, David, Mary Magdalene, and Paul. They are all proof that regrets don’t have to control your life. Each day offers an opportunity to leave the regrets behind and move on. It is most often our regrets that prove to be the things from which wisdom grows. Life, real life lived earnestly and passionately will involve some regrets, but these regrets need not hold us captive, but brought into the presence of God’s grace can liberate us the more to be God’s servants.

Prayer
Heavenly Father I turn my regrets over to you. Help me to learn from them that I may serve you with humility and wisdom. In Jesus name. Amen.

Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana