Ever said something you regret, or made a mistake that you’re feeling guilty about, and then you keep replaying the scenario over and over in your head, wishing you could go back and do things differently? Constantly repeating, ‘if only...if only...’? Well, here’s what God says: 1) ‘Your sins are forgiven in Jesus’ name’ (1 John 2:12 MSG). We don’t earn forgiveness by making up for things with good deeds or acts of service. We’re forgiven because Jesus’ paid the price for us on the cross. Whatever we’ve done, or not done, that forgiveness is readily available to us when we accept Him. 2) ‘I…will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again’ (Isaiah 43:25 NLT). God isn’t going to keep bringing up our past mistakes. That means there’s no need for us to keep guilt-tripping ourselves about them either. 3) ‘Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history…I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?…I’m making a [way for you]’ (Isaiah 43:18-19 MSG). When we’ve done something wrong, we might think we’ve ruined our chances. But God doesn’t see it like that. He’ll willingly give us a fresh, clean start. He asks us not to look back, and instead focus on what He’s got lined up for our future. The only reason for us to remember our past mistakes is when we’re learning something from them. We can’t go back and rewrite history. When we dwell on the past it’s always at the expense of the future. But when we learn from the past it has the potential to make our future better.

What now?
Is there something you’ve done in your past that you’re regretting, and can’t let the guilt go? Re-read those three Bible verses every morning, and spend a few minutes asking God to show you the new thing He’s got planned for you.