No Regrets?

Genesis 6:6-7

Introduction

The mantra of living life with “no regrets” is a popular one and usually comes alongside the mantra of “you only live once.”

Just like #yolo, there is some grain of truth to “no regrets.”

But also like yolo, the truth is rarely meant.

Yolo COULD mean, “don’t be careless with this precious thing.”

Instead it mostly means throw caution to the wind and live recklessly.

Likewise, no regrets COULD mean, be thoughtful about your choices so that you don’t end up regretting them, but it often means, ignore the consequences or morality of all of your choices and move forward with complete confidence no matter what.

“In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take.”

“Live with no excuses, love with no regrets”

“No regrets, there is no time for that. Regret is boring”

“Live fast, fight hard, no regrets!”

God does not call on us to abolish or ignore regret.

Our goal is not a life free from regrets, but one in which we strive to make them useful.

God Regrets

He regretted that He had made man (Gen. 6:6-7).

He regretted that He made Saul King (1 Sam. 15:11, 35).

This passage is made the more difficult because of 1 Sam. 15:29.

These passages give us a clue to what is meant by God’s regret.

Sometimes there is some use in crying over spilled milk.

Paul Regrets

Paul says he does not regret but did regret all in the same sentence (2 Cor. 7:8).

Here is both resolve and some degree of sorrow.

It is appropriate to regret even what must be done.

A father once mocked to me the notion that spanking hurt him more than the kids.

It is ok to know you are doing the right thing and still not love the process.

Managing Regrets

We need to understand and define our regret.

Is it simply a sad thing but still a good decision?

Is it something we could only know in hindsight?

Is it something we could have done better but not sin?

Is it sin?

There are regrets that simply must be born.

They are not useless.

We do not hope to grow so callous that we do not feel these regrets.

There are regrets that teach (Lk. 10:38-42).

To be able to look and see where improvements could be made.

To admit even if you did well, that you didn’t do best.

To find that room to regret without condemning all of your effort.

Think of Martha looking back on this occasion and what possible lessons she could learn and how easily she could avoid all of those lessons by self-justification.

There is a kind of regret that removes regret (2 Cor. 7:10).

There is a kind of regret that only builds (2 Cor. 7:10; Rom. 7:14-24).

Conclusion

Don’t live a life of no regrets. That is the path of a self-deluded, prideful, coward.

Stand with all the courage, humility, and clarity of a child of God. Stare directly at the sorrows of this past year and your past life. Learn the lessons that are available, restore what is possible to restore, pass on what knowledge can be passed on, grieve what ought to be grieved, and then set them down at the feet of the one who has promised to take them away.

The answer to no regrets is not a life full of them. It is a life with an answer for them.