Respond to Regret

I John 1:7-9 NKJV
[7] But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. [8] If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. [9] If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We’ve all experienced the feeling of helplessness that comes from regret. It follows that decision you made that you wish you hadn’t or the decision you didn’t make that you wish you had.
Choose not to let regret fester and steal your joy. To respond properly to regret, we must know that our worth goes beyond behavior and, instead, is rooted in our relationship to God. If we tie worth to performance, we are setting ourselves up for failure. Maybe not at first, because we can usually live for a while without making any major mistakes. But sooner or later, we are going to fail. And if our sense of worth is dependent on our behavior, the shame of failure will bring us down.
Our worth is based on two facts. First, we are made in God’s image. And second, we can identify ourselves with Jesus and receive new life in Him. That means that even when we are less than perfect, His perfection is still ours. Even when we show our flaws, His identity is still what counts. This does not give us license to fail or an excuse to sin. But it does give us reason to rise again when we inevitably do both.
Whenever you haven’t behaved in agreement with God’s Word, you may be tempted to allow your mistakes to strip you of your worth or force you to try to prove your value. But I keep choosing not to go there. Choose to repent and turn your focus to the grace that you received through Jesus instead of the shame of your own actions.
God’s grace redefines your shame. The hidden benefit of regret is that it reminds us of our deficiencies and insufficiencies, and that propels us to find our value in Jesus alone.