No Regrats Bro!

Have you ever been asked the question, “Is there anything you regret from your past?” Often I hear people say something like, “I don’t regret anything because I am who I am because of my past.” I understand what that person is saying, but really, there is nothing in your past you regret? Maybe I am just being a Debbie downer, but I think we all have things in our past that we regret and that still haunts us to this day. Maybe it wasn’t a huge moral failure or a life-altering decision you made. But maybe it was how you reacted to a co-worker, your child, or your spouse after a long hard week at work. Maybe you didn’t tell the whole truth and now you feel like your integrity may be compromised. Maybe you placed the blame on someone else when you knew you should have fallen on the sword. Whatever it may be, I think most, if not all of us, have done things that we regret. For the past few days I have been thinking about these words from Paul in a letter he wrote to the early church in Philippi. These words precede his desire to become more and more like Jesus. He writes,

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12–14).

This is one of those coffee mug verses. It’s used to inspire and encourage people to do great things for God. Keep your eye on the prize. Don’t look back. Don’t give up. The best is yet to come. I haven’t done a deep dive study on this passage, but I can’t help but think about Paul’s past as he penned these words to other Jesus followers. Let me fill you in if you aren’t familiar with Paul’s past. Years before he wrote this letter he was known for approving and overseeing the murder of early Christians, Christians to whom he now calls brothers.

I wonder as Paul wrote the line, “forgetting what lies behind” if the sting or regret stung him at his core. Regret for the hatred he had held in his heart for this odd Jewish sect that was following this man named Jesus. Regret for the innocent blood that would forever be on his hands. Regret for the families he destroyed.

We all have regret. The question is what are you going to do with that regret? Are you going to hold onto it and let it define you for the rest of your life? Are you going to continue to shove it so far down inside you that you have fooled yourself that you have dealt with it? What are you going to do with it?

This passage has been an invitation for me to go to Jesus with my regrets. To be honest with him about my failures in life as a son, brother, husband, father, friend, and pastor. I know for some of you that may sound like a bunch of garbage, and if I am being honest I too sometimes feel like it is a copout. But as I have been bringing my regrets to Jesus, he has been so gracious in helping me work through them. He has given me the strength to address them and deal with them. Not that am already perfect, in the words of Paul, but I am pressing onward, a bit bruised, a bit embarrassed, a bit bloody at times. But in all of it, I am trusting in Jesus’ grace and faithfulness. I hope you do too.

Grace and peace till we rise in glory.