Starting Over: Your Life Beyond RegretsSample

Redeem Your Regrets To exit the Sorry Cycle and start over, the first step is to recognize your regret, then release it. The third step in the process is best described by the term redeem. No other word so richly defines the way you break free from regret and move ahead. In the New Testament, the word for redemption is used preeminently to describe what Jesus did by giving up his life for us on the cross. But it also reminds us that Jesus delivers us from our regrets and can make something beautiful out of them. Historically, the word for “redemption” was used in reference to the purchase of a slave’s freedom. A slave was “redeemed” when the price was paid for his freedom. Why is that relevant? Because you can choose to be enslaved by your regrets, or you can let God redeem your regrets and find a freedom only he can give through Jesus. God’s redemption can set you free from your captivity to the Sorry Cycle. He takes what you once considered a loss and turns it into a gain. He restores the hope you had thought was gone forever. What sets this part of the process apart from the previous two steps is that redemption is not something you do. Rather, it is something only God can do. You simply bring your regrets to him and ask him to do what only he can do – make something beautiful out of them. I can’t tell you in advance what your redemption is going to look like, but whatever your redemption turns out to be, it will be something incredible: a mistake turned into a miracle, evil converted to good, tragedy transformed into opportunity. God’s redemption doesn’t erase whatever it was that happened to cause you regret, but his redemption does set it in a larger context of goodness, transforming the darkness of the past into the brightness of a new future. Reflect: If you are ready to trust God to redeem your regret, say these words to him in prayer: “God, you know what happened that has caused me so much regret. I have done everything I can to release that regret and experience forgiveness. Now I ask you to do what only you can do: make good come from this regret. Turn the dark into light. I give this to you, dear God. Amen.”