Regrets

When you stop at a red light and look at the car next to you to see the driver singing, dancing, and jamming out to a song....and honestly they just look weird. Yep, that's me! I am that driver that is dancing, singing, and jamming out. I have even broadened my "group" to my kiddos...they love it. To top this, I am notorious for making up my own words to songs if I don't know what the lyrics are supposed to be. It is a bit embarrassing, though, when I sing the song around other people, wrong words and all, and they look at me like I'm crazy.

*Side note, I will never admit that I am crazy, but I am me....one who tries to live without regrets, live each day (even moment) to the fullest. Why not? Life is great and should be enjoyed and that joy should be shared! Now resuming previous thought process.....

So, this morning at church as the song "How He Loves Us" by David Crowder Band was being sung, I followed the words on the screen. Here they are....

He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy
When all of a sudden I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me
And O how He loves us Oh,
O how He loves us
How He loves us all
Yeah He loves us
O how He loves us
O how He loves us
O how He loves
We are His portion and He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean, we're all sinking

So Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way

It's an amazing song, one that I regularly belt out at the top of my lungs when I am driving by myself. Every time I heard this song, I am reminded how much God loves me....so cool.

This morning though, I realized that I have been singing the song wrong (that's not a new surprise to me). The green verse above hit me hard. Particularly the line "I don't have time to maintain these regrets" It seems so easy for us (okay, I'll speak for me at least) to hold onto events in our life when we mess up. We dwell in the guilt, the shame, and the feelings, thus giving the devil the ability to steal our joy.

So, I look at this line in two ways. One is that we should not beat ourselves up for our mistakes. With that thought though, we should not stay at a place where we relive the same mistakes over and over again. By doing this, we no longer "regret" our decisions, but instead have begun living a lifestyle that was once considered a "regret" in our everyday life. That doesn't sound fun to me.

Rather, we should accept that mistakes (sin) happens....everyday for every one, there's no escaping it. Instead, we recognize the mistake, we ask for forgiveness, and we move on and continue to enjoy the life around us. To hold onto the regret will only make us bitter, worrisome, and distracted. I can't help but think of the process when it comes to a young child. They hit their sibling, they get disciplined for the action, they apologize and ask for forgiveness, and are then ready to play again. For my children I work at quick forgiveness, in an attempt to not rob my child of their joy and vigor for life. Just the same, I believe that God wants us to bounce back up and live life after we stumble, apologize, and ask for forgiveness.

Let go of Regret, and instead grab hold of the joys all around you!