Living a life without Regret

Have you ever regretted something you said or did?

I’ve regretted a few things that I have said before. For instance, there was this girl in middle school named Donna. I was your typical middle school boy – annoying and stupid – and I thought it would be fun to sing her name in order to make fun of her. It was that song, “Donna” by Richie Valines. It was popular once again back in the late 80s because of a movie. Anyways, I so annoyed her that one day, when I least expected it, she turned around, kicked up her leg and racked me! That’s right, right in the middle of the locker room. I was down for the count and done for many minutes. Do you think I regretted what I said? You bet.

On a more serious note, we are going to focus on Living a life without regrets. We are going to look at living a life without regret and how can you possibly take back something you might have said or done.


So, starting out: How do you live without regret?

1. Be wise in your actions
In order to be wise with the decisions you make, it might be good to know what actions are appropriate or not.

Read Galatians 5:19-21
- Do your actions produce these results? If you are involved with these things or are involved with people that do these things, I think it is safe to say that you are not headed down the right path. I’m not being critical here, but let’s just look at some of these. What could be positive about:
· Sexual immorality or orgies. Sure it seems like fun, but what is fun about getting an STD or pregnant? I know some of you are real daredevils, but do you really want to tempt fate? I know we are living a life to the extreme, but that is a little too extreme, don’t you think?
· Outbursts of anger. Listen, I struggle with my anger, but what is good about getting so mad you punch a hole in the wall or break something?
· Lastly, drunkenness. What good could become of this? Do you think it is fun to get so drunk that you wake up not knowing what just happened the night before? Do you think it is fun to get so drunk that your judgments go out the window and you may have gone too far with a girl/boy you hardly knew? Do you think it is fun to get drunk that you spend half your night throwing up and the next day with a crazy hangover?

I’m not trying to over-spiritualize this talk boys and girls – most of this is just good old common sense. To live without regret, we have to avoid these things. Not because you shouldn’t have fun, but because of the consequences that you are messing with. Believe me, there are other ways we can have fun with far less serious consequences.


2. Be wise in your words

We’ve all heard of the phrase “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but….” (Let students finish). Could that statement be any further from the truth? Words have a tremendous impact on people and us. Well, if we are going to live without regret, we have to choose our words wisely. Let’s see what the Bible has to say about it.

Read Proverbs 12:18 and 15:1, 4
How many people find these sayings to be true? I definitely do – every time I respond to someone in anger and say something harsh, the response I get back is typically harsh. However, when I respond in kindness and love, the conversation usually has a more positive tone.

Look at the consequences of lashing out
· It stirs up anger and crushes the spirit

Look at the benefits of responding in kindness and in love.
· Brings healing, life and health; it turns away wrath


What if you have so much regret now? What can you do?
As much as you may not want to admit it, was have all made mistakes and I’m sure that there is something we all wish we could take back. Whether it is something you said to your friends, your parents or you siblings or whether it is something you did, we all wish we could take it back.

Unfortunately, that is impossible. We can not take back what we said or did. However, we can do 2 things to help give us some peace:

o Go and Ask forgiveness
Whether they forgive you or not, you have asked for it and express your sincere apology. You have done your part and you can move on.

o Begin anew
Read 2 Corinthians 5:17; John 8:1-11
· This girl probably did something she regretted – either she was married and having an affair or she was having an a
· What was Jesus’ response to her? “Go and sin no more.”

Challenge

That is my challenge to you all this week and from here on out – Go and sin no more. Take Christ’s challenge of having life and life to the full in him – live a regret free life by being wise with your actions and your words. You see, when we have a relationship with Christ, we don’t have to care about what others do or say to us – we can respond in love because we know that no matter what Christ loves you and is with you. By having this attitude, you can save yourself and others a lot of restless nights wondering what might have been.