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Church bulletin:<\/p>\n
We all look back on situations and we cringe. Some incidents from our past may be more than just cringe worthy \u2013 our behaviour has been destructive; we have damaged relationships, we have sullied our reputation. If only we could turn back the clock and do things differently. If only we could live in the knowledge of hindsight and so avoid the mess to begin with. Perhaps however, it\u2019s not such a bad thing that our past remains what it is.<\/p>\n
In the first instance, our sins and failures demonstrate how God\u2019s grace has been continually extended to us. Through Christ we have forgiveness and the slate is wiped clean. Rom 4:7-8, \u201cBlessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.\u201d Our past therefore provides a backdrop for God\u2019s glorious character. It gives rise to thankfulness and devotion on our part.<\/p>\n
Secondly, regret can serve to shape our lives in the present \u2013 that is if we learn from our errors. Knowing where and why we have gone wrong, we have the opportunity to take stock and address issues in our lives. Someone once said (usually attributed to Einstein but it probably wasn\u2019t him) \u201cInsanity Is Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again and Expecting Different Results\u201d. Are some Christians guilty of a kind of spiritual insanity? We continue in ways which have caused regret as though the outcome may be different. Regret can and should be the Lord\u2019s rod for learning and change.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Has anger led to regret? Use it to cultivate self-control and calmness. Consider the ugliness and damage caused by unrestrained anger. Outbursts of rage cannot be taken back but by God\u2019s grace anger can be subdued and channelled appropriately before it gets to that point.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Have decisions led to regret? Use it to wait upon the Lord when faced with difficult choices. God\u2019s wisdom and clarity in a situation often come after patiently waiting upon on Him. Better to proceed slowly and even miss out than live with consequences which cannot be undone.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Has the tongue led to regret? Use it to consider the power of words. We have control over what we say and don\u2019t say, but once words are spoken we have no control over them. James ch3 likens the loose tongue to a raging fire.<\/p>\n
Regret is painful, but not all pain is bad. In fact, no pain is dangerous. What is it about yourself that has caused you the most regret? Use that regret to help shape your character in the present.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Church bulletin: We all look back on situations and we cringe. Some incidents from our past may be more than just cringe worthy \u2013 our behaviour has been destructive; we …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3946"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3950,"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3946\/revisions\/3950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}