I can’t believe it, but I am quickly approaching the end of my fifth year of ministry here at South. During these past five years there are have been so many different blessings for me in the ministry. One of the most recent for sure is our Easter Sunday services that we had a couple of weeks ago. One of the things that made the services that day such a blessing to me was seeing the fruit of so many people’s boldness in praying for, investing in, and then inviting friends and family to church. It was a joy to watch our ushers scramble to grab chairs and set them up in the back of the auditorium in order to accommodate all the people who attended. Praise be to God for His indescribable work!
Another thing that made the services that day such a blessing to me was watching person after person lay down all kinds of different baggage at the foot of cross; leaving it there for the grace and forgiveness of Christ to take care of.
The reality is that we all have baggage in our lives, and sadly far too many people walk around carrying their baggage, believing that they can never get rid of it. In doing some research on this subject, one of the greatest pieces of baggage that people tend to carry with them is that of regret, guilt and shame. Too many people are stuck with memories from their past that they can’t get over. God wants us to know that He doesn’t want us carrying this baggage throughout our lives. He wants us to be free from its weight, and He has made a way for that to happen.
For a person to become free from this piece of baggage in their lives, the first thing they need to do is understand what regret really is. According to Webster’s Dictionary, regret is: “sorrow aroused by circumstances beyond one’s control or power to repair: an expression of distressing emotion (as sorrow)”
Scripture lets us know that at times, God, through the working of the Holy Spirit, is responsible for the sorrow in our lives associated with guilt. John 16:8 says, “And when he (the Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” And when this is the case, we as finite human beings certainly need a greater power than we have to repair our sorrow and free us from guilt. According to Scripture, that power is found in several different sources.
First, in the life of someone who is not a follower of Jesus Christ, the power to be freed from guilt is found in salvation. When a person places their faith and trust in Christ, through repentance of their sins and belief in the work of Christ on the cross, everything in their life is covered by the blood of Christ, bringing about cleansing and newness of life.
The Apostle Paul testified often to the freeing power of salvation when it comes to the baggage of guilt. Here are a couple examples:
1. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
2. “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)
Salvation in Christ makes all things new in our lives. It strips us of our old baggage, and it ensures us that we will never be condemned of the things we may have said, done, or thought causing the baggage of guilt in our lives.
Ultimately, the reason why Paul testified to the freeing power of salvation in Scripture is because he experienced it for himself. In II Corinthians 15, Paul informs us that he considered himself to be the least of, unworthy to even be called an apostle, and the reason for that is because he persecuted, imprisoned, and even participated in the killing of Christians (certainly a lot to be guilty about). But then he added the following guilt freeing words – “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain.”
The second source of power that Scripture teaches as being able to free a person from the baggage of guilt is directed specifically for followers of Jesus Christ. That source of power is found in confession and repentance.
Hear this promise of God found in 2 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Genuine confession brings about forgiveness and purity and therefore the freedom from guilt. The key thought to tapping into this power is GENUINE confession. In 2 Corinthians 7:10, Paul shares with us what genuine confession is when he writes, “The sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.”
With genuine confession, there is a sorrow over the fact that one has disobeyed and disgraced God, which in turn leads to repentance and change, so that God is no longer disgraced. With worldly confession, there is sorrow over the fact that one has gotten caught, which does not really motivate one to repent and change. The following examples in Scripture are good demonstrations of genuine confession, and ones worth studying further – Peter when he sinned by denying Jesus, and King David when he sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheba and killing her husband. On the opposite end of the spectrum would the following examples of worldly confession – Judas when he sinned by betraying Christ, and King Saul when he sinned in not waiting for the priests to offer up incense to God.
If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins – end of story, freed from the baggage of guilt. However, what happens if we are still experiencing feelings of guilt, regret, and shame in our lives? Is this still the work of God in our lives? The answer to that is ABSOLUTELY NO! Oppressive feelings of guilt and regret after salvation and genuine confession is a work of our enemy, Satan.
Many times Satan will cause us to hang on to our feelings of sorrow, guilt, and regret by deceiving us into thinking that we need carry these emotions around with us as a sign of genuine confession. However, the Bible teaches us that the Christian life is a spiritually and emotionally “abundant life;” a life of joy, peace and hope. God’s amazing grace in our lives makes this all possible. Therefore, when we allowing our regrets to hang around and affect our joy, peace and hope, His grace is proving to be vain to us. We’re essentially telling Jesus that His suffering and death wasn’t enough to take away our former sins and mistakes, as well as our present and future ones.
So let’s stop telling God that His grace in our lives is sufficient power enough to free us from our guilt. Instead let’s put our regrets behind us. When regrets come to your mind, if the regret is over something that’s in your power to resolve; like apologizing to someone or paying back money you’ve borrowed etc, take the actions needed to resolve that regret. Another thing to do to put regrets behind you is to form a habit of thanking God for forgiving you (of the things you regret) every time a regret comes to mind. I promise you that the power these regrets have to cause sadness and feelings of shame and condemnation will begin to diminish, and you will start to see your past in its proper context – God’s context.
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