Regrets Are Forgivable

Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.
—Romans 5:12

If we are going to live above the could-haves, would-haves, and should-haves in life, we need to understand that regrets are forgivable. One reason we make mistakes is that we all have been infected with a virus called sin. Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We have all inherited the inclination to make wrong choices and disobey God’s will.

How did we inherit that tendency to rebel against God’s perfect plan for our life? Romans 5:12 says, “Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” When Adam and Eve sinned, it started a chain reaction that continued to their children, to their children’s children, and it comes to us. We are all born into this world with the sin virus. Some people say, “That’s not fair. I didn’t make that choice in the Garden. Why should I be punished for what somebody else did?”

Let me give you an illustration. One day in our home we discovered a patch of black mold. We brought experts in to look at it, and they said, “This is toxic. If you stay in the house, you will become ill and die.” That didn’t seem fair. We didn’t do anything to cause the mold. Fortunately, our insurance company said, “If you want to, we will provide another home for you to live in while we rebuild the house, and then we will let you move back in.” Now, we had a choice. We could have said, “We didn’t cause the mold; we are going to stay here and take our chances.” Or we could have said, “Even though we didn’t cause this mold, we are suffering the effects of it; so we are going to accept the insurance company’s offer and let them rebuild our home.” And that’s the choice we made.

God says to you and me, “Even though you weren’t the one who chose the sin virus, you inherited it. And you have a choice: you can live with your sin and spend eternity separated from Me, or you can accept My offer to remove the mold of sin and give you a brand-new life by accepting Jesus as your Savior.” And that is what God did. For no other reason than the great love with which God loved you and me, He offered His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for our sin and to give us a brand-new life.

Remember, Jesus Christ did not come because of the right choices you made in life; He came because of the wrong choices you made. Your regrets can be forgiven.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Living above the Could-Haves, Would-Haves, Should-Haves” ” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2009.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.