The Secret Place: 21 Day DevotionalSample

REPENT VS REGRET

2 Corinthians 7:10

When we think of repentance, a lot of emotion - especially regret - tends to be tied to it, but when we look at scripture, we see the power and importance of repentance that goes beyond just feeling sorry about falling short of God’s will for our lives. Let’s look at some definitions to outline the difference between repentance and regret. This is Oxford Languages’ definition of regret: “a feeling of sadness, repentance, or disappointment over an occurrence or something that one has done or failed to do.” From the same source, to repent is to “feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one's wrongdoing or sin.” From these definitions, we see the consensus is that regret is merely a feeling, whereas repentance is also action, an expression of that feeling caused by sin. But what does repentance look like? What is our expression? Looking at the biblical definition of repentance, we understand that it involves an acknowledgement of sin and a conscious decision to turn away from it, thus living a life pleasing to God. In scripture, repentance goes beyond a temporary feeling and is not just a one-off event, but a lifestyle we need to follow.

When we feel regret - or grief - at the point that we fall short, we have to allow the Spirit of God to cause that regret to bring us to repentance as opposed to allowing the enemy to cause us to fall into a place of desperate despair. 2 Corinthians 7:10 talks about the difference between godly grief that leads to salvation and worldly grief that leads to death.The examples of Judas and Peter in the latter part of Matthew demonstrate this perfectly; when Judas betrayed Jesus and felt regret and grief from his actions, it led him to hang himself. But Peter, after having denied Jesus three times, wept bitterly then reached a point of repentance and continued to live and do great things for the Kingdom of God as seen in the book of Acts. By God’s grace, may your story look like Peter’s and not Judas’! When we fall short of the glory of God, a feeling of regret may set in. But over time, feelings fade, and for us to experience lasting change and freedom from sin, we need to reach a place of repentance - regret is not enough. Make the conscious decision to turn away from evil and pursue good.

Through repentance you can live an effective, power-filled life!