How to Free Your Heart When It’s Trapped by Regret

Posted on Sep 27, 2016 Topic : Inspirational/Devotional, Men's Christian Living
Posted by : Jon Gauger

My love for quotes is almost an addiction. I collect them, print them, post them, share them. Truth is, I have an electronic file of quotes, a traditional paper file folder full of them, and a blank book in which I’ve glued hundreds of quotes. But who knew that in writing If I Could Do It All Over Again, I would be swimming in quotes?

The idea was to sit down with a couple dozen Christian leaders and ask them how they would specifically do life differently if they could do it all over again. My goal? To learn from these leaders—and hopefully walk away with content that would help readers avoid some of their mistakes. As you might imagine, talking with folks like Joni Eareckson Tada, Tim Keller, Anne Graham Lotz, Tony Evans, and Michael W. Smith yielded more than a few quotable moments.

A Fire Hose of Grace

But I was not prepared for the fire hose of God’s grace that surged all through the chapter on regrets. Though I know in Christ I’m truly forgiven, I sometimes still struggle with regret. It was actually refreshing to discover that bestselling Christian authors, world-renowned preachers, and Grammy Award-winning Christian artists also have regrets.

That Got My Attention!

Yet, I was (pleasantly) blasted by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth’s pronouncement, “When it’s all said and done, the sum total of my life will be Jesus Christ and His righteousness.” That got my attention. If that’s true, I thought, then I can truly rest! It’s not about me or my attempts at being godly. It’s about the righteousness of God that He has already given me in Christ.

Gifts of Grace

A second blast of grace splashed over me when Steve Brown assured, “When Jesus said ‘It is finished,’ it really was!” These quotes—and many more—I committed to memory, without even processing the effort. To state it awkwardly, I couldn’t NOT absorb these gifts of God’s grace.

Voice after voice—verse after verse—conveyed a sense of rest and release way deep in the cracks of my soul. I was utterly caught off guard. And to think all I was trying to do was simply work on a manuscript!

What about You?

I’d love to engage you on this subject of doing life all over again. What’s on your list of things you’d do over? How do you handle those moments when regret creeps in? What Bible verses do you cling to?