Be honest. There are decisions and events you should legitimately and appropriately regret. That's one thing. But to allow yourself to be conditioned by them and subject yourself to a sense of never being pardoned, that is something different. It is not only different but it's not the gospel which is not about regrets but grace, restoration and being set free. The prophet Joel said: "I will restore to you the years that the locusts have wasted." The gospel is not about having your back against the wall of the archives of your life. It is about the resurrected Christ standing face to face with you and saying, "We're not going to talk about this any more!"
The late Lewis Smedes passionately and poignantly wrote about the need and power of pardon: "Two anxieties dominate most of our lives. We are anxious in the face of our unchangeable past; we long to recreate segments of our private histories, but we are stuck with them. We are anxious in the face of our unpredictable futures; we long to control our destinies, but we cannot bring them under our management. Thus, two basic longings, lying at the root of most others, are frustrated: we cannot alter a painful past or control a threatening future. (But) God offers answers to our deepest anxieties. He is a forgiving God who recreates our pasts by forgiving them . . . By forgiving us He changes our past. By promising, He secures our future. By his grace we participate in his power to change the past and control the future. We, too, can forgive, and must forgive. We, too, can make a promise and keep it. Indeed, by sharing these two divine powers, we become most powerfully human and most wonderfully free."
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Grab hold of God's pardon. Rejoice in knowing that with Jesus Christ as your advocate, there are no accusations from heaven. Rest in the assurance that your liberation is grounded in the love of Christ. And be assured the Lord your God is continuing to recreate not only you but others in the community of God according to His good purposes.
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John Tornfelt is Professor of Preaching at Evangelical Theological Seminary in Myerstown, PA.