R-E-G-R-E-T

The apostle Paul had acquired quite a reputation for persecuting the church.  He was on hand at the stoning of the early disciple Stephen, and he was devoted to eliminating Christianity.  After He came into a relationship with Christ, it would be conceivable that he may have had a mountain of regrets.

But, he wrote this to encourage all believers - from Philippians 3:
12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

It is documented that Paul, once known as Saul, was a participant in activity against the Most High God.  But, his attitude and admonition was to focus on the future, not the past.  When we have regrets in our own lives, we can confess our sins to Him, we can learn from our mistakes, and we can trust God with our respective futures.  No matter what a person has done in his or her past, it can be forgiven through the blood of Jesus, who died so that our future - on earth, as well as heaven - is full of great promise.

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The Bible teaches in 2nd Corinthians 7 about the process that a person goes through in order to experience repentance.  Sorrow for our past failures is a first step, it seems, in order to experience the
redemptive presence of God.  And, the Bible teaches us that if we confess our sins, we can know that Jesus is faithful to forgive us.  Now, to 2nd Corinthians 7:
10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
11 For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

There is a story that has appeared in one form or the another on several Christian websites, and although there is not a direct faith connection highlighted, the story can provide us with some practical spiritual lessons to consider.

I will be quoting from Jim Denison's blog post at the website for the Denison Forum on Truth and Culture.  He notes that Wheel of Fortune is about to celebrate its 35th season this September, and that the famous letter-turner Vanna White gave a rather informative interview with Fox News.

So, before we get rolling, I'd like to reveal that we have a "word of the day" - it is in the category of "destructive emotion" and has six letters.  So, I'd like to choose the letter R.  I will say there are two of them in the word.

Now, according to Denison, this interview contained some interesting facts. For instance, "She has worn more than 6,500 dresses on the show." Also, "She realized she 'made it' when she saw herself on the cover of Newsweek while standing in line at a grocery store." Also, she "began supporting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital after she became a mother."  And, even though she's 60 years old, she's not done yet and intends to keep working "as long as she can."

At this point, I'd like to add the consonant, T, to the 6-letter word.  That puts an R in positions 1 and 4 and a T at the end.

She also discussed with Fox News her posing for Playboy a number of years ago.  Here's the quote:

“When I first moved to Hollywood, I was too embarrassed to ask my dad for rent money. I was young and I wanted to do it on my own. So, I did these lingerie shots and from the moment I said I would do them, I thought, ‘I shouldn’t be doing this, but I’m not going to ask my dad for money, so I’m just going to do it!’ Once I got ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and some fame, Hugh Hefner then bought those pictures. He’s the one who put me on the cover of the magazine. I didn’t do it for Playboy. I didn’t want them on there, but it happened.”

Now, let's add a vowel - it's E.  There are two E's, as well.  So you have R-E __ - R - E - T.  Got it?

That's right, it's regret.  As Denison relates:

Vanna White made some money she spent many years ago, but she will regret her decision for the rest of her life. Her experience illustrates perfectly the paradox of temptation and integrity. Temptation seems to benefit more than it costs at first, but its disastrous consequences always outweigh their reward. Integrity usually costs more than it benefits at first, but its positive consequences always outweigh their cost.

He also points out:

Today it’s conventional wisdom that all morals are personal and subjective. We are taught to tolerate all consensual behavior that doesn’t hurt someone else. But to quote Dr. Phil, “How’s that working for us?”

The crisis of immorality is, however, an opportunity for the church. When we choose the long-term benefits of character over the short-term allure of temptation, others take note. The more sacrificial our integrity, the more persuasive our witness.

There are a couple of thoughts I had about Vanna and her regret.  She apparently thought her posing for the pictures was wrong - I don't know if that morality was fueled by faith or not.  But, she made a bad decision that she wishes that she had not.  According to the Relevant magazine account of the Fox News interview, she said:

And this is a lesson that applies today: Never do anything that you don’t want to do. Listen to your instincts and follow it. I said, “I made a mistake, I’m sorry and I just hope I don’t lose my job over it.” Fortunately, I didn’t. I could have, you know? It was a great lesson to learn, but what can I say? I did something I shouldn’t have done.

Regret is certainly a destructive emotion.  And if we are overwhelmed by those regrets, it can paralyze us emotionally and spiritually.  But, a regret can be a catalyst to repentance.  When we are willing to be vulnerable before God, admit our mistakes, and lay our regrets at the foot of the cross, we can experience His healing and restoration.  As 2nd Corinthians 7 reminds us, Godly sorrow - produced by the conviction of the Spirit - can lead us to repentance.  When we come face-to-face with our past, we can walk - or run - toward God and experience His restorative love.  There may be consequences, but we can know His strength.

I also am reminded how small choices can lead to large-scale calamity.  I think of Esau, who was willing to sell his birthright for a bowl of stew - a bad choice with long-term consequences.  I think of the homeless man who allegedly was smoking crack cocaine under a bridge in Atlanta and is charged with setting a fire that brought down the interstate, affecting multiple thousands of lives.  There's the man who was reportedly texting behind the wheel of his vehicle, causing him to drive erratically and run into a bus carrying a church group - 13 people are dead now, perhaps related to that small choice.

These are illustrations of errant choices, which can challenge us to think about how we need the Holy Spirit to direct our steps.  Sure, we are going to make mistakes - we are deeply flawed because we are human.  We need a Savior to redeem us, yes, but also to deal with the damage that comes from when we get off course. That may involve reversing or altering consequences, or it may involve reliance on God's strength - regardless, we need to learn what He is teaching us and experience His forgiveness in the aftermath of our wrong choices.