#3 – Handling Life's Hurts

RELEASING YOUR REGRETS

‘Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.’
Psalm 32:1 (NIV)

I. REGRETS: WHAT WE USUALLY DO WITH THEM

We Usually Bury Them… Or At Lest We Try To…

‘Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.’
Psalm 19:12 (NIV)

By Minimizing Them
By Rationalizing Them
By Compromising Them

‘He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.’ Proverbs 28:13 (NIV)

Paraphrase: ‘The man who refuses to admit his mistakes can NEVER be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance.’

We Blame Others

‘You speak continually against your brother and slander your own mother’s son.’ Psalm 50:12 (NIV)

We Beat Ourselves

‘My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly. I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning. My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body. I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart. Psalm 38:4-8 (NIV)

II. REGRETS: WHAT WE SHOULD DO WITH THEM

Admit It… Admit Your Guilt

‘For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.’
Psalm 51:5 (NIV)

‘Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”- and you forgave the guilt of my sin.’ Psalm 32:5 (NIV)

Accept God’s Forgiveness

‘There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.’ Romans 8:1 (KJV)

‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ I John 1:9 (KJV)

‘As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.’ Psalm 103:12 (KJV)

‘For thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back…’ Isaiah 38:17 (KJV)

‘For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.’ John 3:17 (KJV)

Forgive Yourself And Focus On The Future

‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.’ Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)

III. REGRETS: WHAT GOD WANTS TO DO…

He Wants To Clean Your Conscience

‘“Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.’” Isaiah 1:18-19 (NIV)

‘For I will remember their sin no more…’ Jeremiah 31:34

God Wants To Change Your Character

‘Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.’
2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)