Skip Regret Go Directly to Repentance

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I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire!  (Luke 24:32)

I don’t have regrets.  

I do have a lot of repentances.

Regrets are like weights.  They can drag you down, even long after the fact.

You did something you regret.  It was bad.  It was wrong.  It was dumb.  It was embarrassing.  

You hurt someone.  You committed a crime.  You failed.  You stumbled.  You fell.

Regrets can come in unlimited ways.  Every story is different, but they end up in the same stinking valley called Regret.

Fortunately God has given us a mechanism to deal with regret.  It’s called repentance.

Whatever you did.  Whatever sin you committed.  Whatever way you went off the rails and into the weeds, here is the solution.  Repent.

What does repent mean?  It means you admit it, you confess it, you own up to it, you’re sorry for it, you don’t ever want to do it again, you give it up to God, and you receive His forgiveness for it.

And then it is done.  You have repented and it is done.

And then that old snake Regret comes calling.  Old memories come back.  It’s vivid in your mind.  Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I did that, said that, went there, it’s so awful.

But wait a minute.  What are you supposed to do about it?  

You can’t go back in time and make it not happen.  

Sometimes the people involved aren’t even alive anymore.  Now what?  You can’t even tell them you’re sorry.

 It doesn’t matter.  You can’t change the past and it doesn’t matter because God has given us the solution.  Repentance.

Don’t wallow in regret.  It does no good.  It helps no one.  It changes nothing.  It makes no difference.  It only drags you down, wastes time, drains your energy, saps your emotions, and for no good reason.

So when Regret comes knocking, don’t answer.  Don’t listen.  Don’t waste a minute thinking about it.

Skip regret and go directly to repentance.  That is God’s gift to us for handling all the stains.

In Isaiah 1:18, God says, “...though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow...”

Psalm 103:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west,” that’s how far God has removed our transgressions from us.

Hallelujah.

So how to handle regrets?  Don’t handle them at all.  Skip it.

Skip regret, go directly to repentance, and be done with it once and for all.

May God bless you today.

I’m Doug Apple.

How to Overlook an Offense

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I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire!  (Luke 24:32)

The Bible talks about overlooking offenses.

Why would you ever overlook an offense?

Because it is wise to overlook an offense.  It is prudent.  It is honorable.  It is virtuous.  It is to your glory.  It is to your credit.  The Message version of Proverbs 19:11 says it is to your grandeur.

And when you refuse to overlook offenses you basically waste your life in drama, burning every bridge, cutting every tie and destroying every relationship.  

But God has a better plan!

Proverbs 19:11 says, “...it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.”

Proverbs 12:16 says, “Fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult.”

And I love the use of this word “overlook.”  When you overlook something, you do it because it is small, because your eyes are trained on something bigger.  

You overlook an offense because your eyes are trained on something bigger.

And what would that be?

Loving people.  

We are called to love people.  God told us to love our neighbor, and even our enemy.

So we overlook the smaller thing of the offense because our eyes are on the bigger thing of loving this person.  How can I love them?  Lord, show me, how can I love this person with Your love flowing through me?

First Corinthians 13:5, the love chapter, seems to say something crazy.  It says that love keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not keep an account of all the offenses.  Why not?

Because love is overlooking them, looking to the bigger picture which is:  what is best for this person?

They were made in the image of God.  They have been gifted by God and called by God.  Jesus died for them.  He died for these very offenses.

And Jesus told us to love them.  He wants what is best for them, and so should we.

That is the big picture.  What is best for them?  How can we love them?  How can we let God love them through us?  

Galatians 5:22 says that the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives is...love...

God puts His Spirit inside of His people, and His Spirit is going to bear the good fruit of love through us as long as we don’t block Him up.

And what is one key to not blocking up the Holy Spirit?

It is this.  Overlook the offense.  We can overlook offenses because our eyes are fixed on the bigger picture of loving people.

And that is how you overlook an offense.

May God bless you today.

I’m Doug Apple.