Daily Devotional

Living Without Regret

by Joyce Meyer - posted January 19, 2012

But one thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward. —Philippians 3:13-14

Many people stay trapped in the past. There is only one thing that can be done about the past, and that is forget it. When we make mistakes, as we all do, the only thing we can do is ask God's forgiveness and go on.

Like Paul, we are all pressing toward the mark of perfection, but none of us has arrived. I believe Paul enjoyed his life and ministry and this "one aspiration" of his was part of the reason why.

Like us, he was pressing toward the mark of perfection, admitting that he had not arrived, but having insight on how to enjoy his life while he was making the trip.

Mistakes are a regular part of life, and I spent many years hating myself for each of my failures. I desperately wanted to be a good Christian. I wanted to please God. But I still thought it was my perfect performance that would please Him. I had not yet learned that He was pleased with my faith. In Hebrews 11:6 we read, But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him.

Even when we make mistakes and waste precious time as a result of those mistakes, being upset when we could be enjoying life, it is useless to continue being miserable for an extended period of time because of the original mistake. Two wrongs never make anything right.

If you made a mistake twenty years ago or ten minutes ago, there is still nothing you can do about it except ask for forgiveness, receive it, forget the past, and go on. There may be some restitution you can make to an individual you hurt; and, if that is the case, by all means do so.

But the bottom line is that you still must let go of the past in order to grasp the future. Until you do so, you will not enjoy life the way God intended when He sent Jesus.