Leaving Regrets Behind

     Another year is almost gone. As you look back over the year, do you have regrets? Of course you do…we all do. Often our regrets over past sins, hinders our service for the Lord Jesus Christ in the present or future.
     Jean-Pierre de Caussade in The Joy of the Saints wrote, “To escape the distress caused by regret for the past or fear about the future, this is the rule to follow: leave the past to the infinite mercy of God, the future to His good providence; give the present wholly to His love by being faithful to His grace.” Dr. Warren Wiersbe says, “Do not say, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’ You do not move ahead by constantly looking in a rear view mirror. The past is a rudder to guide you, not an anchor to drag you. We must learn from the past but not live in the past.”
     The Apostle Paul said, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14)
     We must take full responsibility for our sins, confess them, trust in God’s grace to help us repent of them and “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus!”