New Creation

“Regret”
It's not what you did,
It's what you didn't do.
It's not what you said,
It's what you didn't say.
It's not where you are,
But where you should have gone.
It's not what is,
But what should have been.
It's when you said this,
When you did that,
When you made that decision,
When you broke that promise.
The shadow of the past
Hangs above you always --
A haunting memory,
A faded thought,
A lingering feeling,
A doubtful view.
You never did and never said
What you wanted.
You said and did everything
You wish you could take back.
But there's no way to fix
A broken past;
No way to wipe off
The stain it leaves.
No way to escape,
Nowhere to go,
And the only thing left
Is the shadow of regret.

You do NOT have to live with regret.

Regret occuts from poor decisions and lost opportunities. Many people regret that they did not study better in school or did not pursue more education. Many some day will regret that they did not spend enought time with family and friends. Addictions cause much regret. "If only" are the worst combination of words in the English language.

Regret blurs the line between what can and cannot be changed. Regret keeps a person trapped in the past.

2 Corinthians 5:17-18, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation." In Christ every person can erase the regrets of the past. We become a new person. Our old identity is removed. A baby has no past. We a person is born again, he or she becomes a brand new baby. In Christ we have a new way of life. it is the worlds best do-over.

In Ephesians 4, Paul exorts believers to put off the old self and to put on the new self. To put off means to throw away or to strip off. We have the choice, the opportunity to cothe ourselves daily with our new and improved nature.