When you make the wrong decision, there are no rewinds or take-backs. You’re stuck with what you’ve thought and done. You can be entrapped by the remorse, guilt, and shame you feel about that decision, or you can find your way toward freedom.
It’s not an easy path for many reasons, one of them being letting go of the thing or person you once enjoyed, maybe even loved. You don’t want to let it or him go, but you know you must. It’s the right and God-honoring thing to do.
It’s also not an easy path for anyone who struggles with a Type A personality or perfectionism. Both of those things tend to dredge up the past again and again and to tear apart the heart and mind with accusations. They must be silenced, and the only way to silence them is the way of forgiveness.
Not forgiveness of oneself, but a recognition of being forgiven, of not having the past held to account. You still have to live with the consequences of your wrongdoing, but you are free not to wallow in what you did. You can change because of who you are in Christ. You can choose to live rightly again.
It isn’t a reset button; it’s more of a force + quit. You did wrong. You recognize the fact and change direction. You also recognize and believe that you are completely forgiven and completely loved. You don’t have to live in the past. You look at it so that you understand your weaknesses and don’t repeat your mistakes, but you start to live in the present. You rest in who you are in Christ, and the way He sees you is not the way you see yourself. You see yourself as broken and ruined – you are – but in Him you are restored. You are made right with God. You are given the freedom to pursue Him and to pursue Him first and foremost.
When you make the wrong decision…repent of it. Ask God for the courage to walk in His ways instead of yours. Ask Him for wisdom and strength. Ask Him for the faith to trust in Him and in His plans for you.
Image: andronicusmax (Creative Commons)