There are times when we reflect on our lives and we wish we would have done things differently.
This weekend my oldest son leaves for his first year of college and one of the things that seems to re-occur in my thinking as we anticipate my son’s leaving is: Have I done enough as a father to prepare him for what lies ahead of him?
Perhaps you are reading this day and you know what I’m talking about. You try to teach them about life, you discipline them, you seek to encourage them to keep on going when they feel like giving up.
In fact, what you’ve done is that you have poured yourself into raising your child. And now as they stand at the door and look back to say good bye, you wonder, “Have I done enough?... Maybe there is more I could have said or done.... I wish I could do that part over again. I would do things differently.” Sometimes in life we can live with a few regrets.
The thing is, we can all look back at times in life where we wish we would have done better at something or said something more appropriately.
The thing is, we can’t go back in life, we can only go forward. And the key to going forward is to not let the failures or shortcomings of the past, those regrets, hold you back or keep you down.
Proverbs 4:25 says, “Look straight ahead with honest confidence; don’t hang your head in shame”
Whatever it is, God’s solution to those sorts of things is to simple forgive you. It’s like one of those Etch- A-Sketch toys kids use to get for Christmas. You draw a picture, then turn it over and shake it and the picture is gone and you can start again.
God’s forgiveness is the same way and that’s good news, isn’t it? But we have to accept that forgiveness. We need to accept by faith that it’s true.
The thing is, sometimes we don’t accept that forgiveness because we cannot forgive ourselves. And so if you want to move forward, forgive yourself!
Remember that Proverbs 4:25 says... “Look straight ahead with honest confidence; don’t hang your head in shame.” Sometimes when we have asked God to forgive us, we still feel lousy about what we did in the past.
It’s then we have to go back to what God did when we first asked Him to forgive us. We need to remember that He did just that.... forgave us! And then we need to say, “God forgave me. It’s over!”
So whatever it is for you, don’t waste time with your regrets. In regards to my son leaving for college, I am not going to waste time and emotion going over what I should have done or said.
Instead I am going to pray for him and wish him the best. I will accept God’s forgiveness for not doing what I should have done and I am going to forgive myself. As far as your regrets are concerned, I encourage you to do the same.
This column is submitted by the Tri-Community Baptist Church in Beiseker.
