Regret

Regret   Killen 5/31/2026Hebrews 12:12-17  nkjv12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. 14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; 16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

❓What is one thing you regret doing in your life ❓

⭐   Living with regret is real!  It’s not just for the worldly and lost to mess up and do things that cause great loss and pain, because we all sin. It can happen to us all!

1.   King David. 2 Samuel 11,12)  Committed adultery with Bathsheba

2.   King Saul  Disobeyed God and kept things he was supposed to destroy.  1 Samuel 15)

3.   Simon Peter  Luke 22:61-62) Denied knowing Jesus three times!  Wept bitterly

4.   Apostle Paul.  Acts 22,26) Before his conversion, Paul (then known as Saul) vigorously persecuted the early Christian church, actively arresting and even consenting to the execution of believers.

⭐  Regret must be dealt with or it can slowly affect every area of our life. 

• Regret doesn’t usually disappear; it often seethes below the surface and grows deeper until it affects everything we do.

A.   David:  Tried to hide his sin and it turned him into becoming someone he wasn’t.

• It led him to making wrong decisions in his job as king and against Uriah.
• He betrayed loyal people and hurt people, until he repented and accepted God’s forgiveness.
• If he would have lived in unrepented regret, he would have never been known as a man “after God’s own heart.”

B.  Saul let his regret poison his whole life until it destroyed him and his family.

C.  Simon Peter could have let his guilt and shame cause him to drop out of the pages of the Bible and be lost to his calling and purposes forever.  He would have never experienced what it meant to be a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, or what it meant to be a peculiar person that would show forth the praises of Him who had called him out of darkness.

D.  Paul:  by not forgetting those things which were behind, he would have never pressed toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ.

⭐ Regret can lead to:

1.  Dread instead of living in the joy of the Lord

2.  Living in condemnation instead of repentance

3.  Causing the grace of God to become of no affect in our life

4.  Causing us to pull away from God because we believe we are too unworthy to receive His forgiveness and grace

5.  Always looking backward instead of growing and moving forward6.  Causing our heart to harden and become bitter, angry and hopeless

⭐ Those who live in regret:

1. Struggle with anxiety and depression

2. Exhaust themselves by constantly replaying the past in their mind

3. Live with a constant sense of guilt and shame

4. Experience anger at oneself and/or others

5.  Relive moments over and over, wishing we could change what cannot be changed. This can rob them of peace and joy in the present.

⭐  The fruit of regret:

• Plagued with the “what if” thinking.  Trying to change or control what cannot be changed or controlled.
• Loss of confidence, overwhelmed with the fear of failure, scared of having purpose
• Fear of making decisions, especially future decisions
• Becoming trapped in the past--- Reliving events as though they happened yesterday. ( moaning and groaning over the past)

⭐  What does this teach us?

I.  Embrace the grace of God! Do not fail of the grace of God vs15) 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;

• Our past does not define who we are! Quit running from the past. We run from what we feel it makes us believe about ourselves. (Cause the grace to be of no effect.)  
• His grace is sufficient!   Paul in Corinthians. Before you think of me more than you should.

II. Repent vs regret  v16-17) 16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

• Tears Alone Are Not Repentance!   

v2 Corinthians 7:10)“For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation… but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”➤  Esau cried bitterly, but he never moved toward true repentance.  There was no place found in him for repentance.   💥It wasn’t that he couldn’t repent, he didn’t want to because things wouldn’t change. A.  Because he wouldn’t get what he wanted. B.  He couldn’t change things.     ( I might forgive but I won’t forget!!!)➤  There is a difference between: > sorrow over consequences,and sorrow over sin.➤  Many people are sorry: > they got caught, > lost something, > damaged relationships, > or suffered consequences.➤  But true repentance says:  “I have sinned against God.”⭐  Judas regretted betraying Christ. Peter repented after denying Christ. One was crushed by guilt; the other was restored by grace.

III.   Put your hand to the plow and keep moving forward! V12-14) 12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. 14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:

➤   We are to keep moving forward and allow God’s Spirit and grace to cause all things to work together for our good!!! vRomans 8:28) 28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 💥  We are not to drift into spiritual compromise so that we throw away what is precious for something temporary.  This verse shows the believer how to be healed. The chapter encourages believers to:

A.   Endure hardship faithfully,  It won’t be easy. Galatians 5:16)  16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 

B.  Pursue holiness, Romans 12:2)  Be Christlike.  

C. Avoid bitterness, Forgive; let go! Forgetting what is behind! 

D.  Do not be careless like Esau. Don’t be profane! Taking for granted what is holy to God “ Choices shape the heart. Small compromises can eventually lead to deep spiritual loss.”