Posted on 08/14/2009 8:51:52 PM PDT by johns777
“Are interested in one particular aspect or the whole verse in general?”
Although we are forgiven for our sins, it is not as though they never happened. How is one to avoid regret?
I can understand the difficulty overcoming regret when past sins have hurt others. Seeking reconciliation would have to play a part. There are some good resources at:
http://www.peacemaker.net
I know I haven't arrived in this regard, but am thankful for a merciful God.
Interesting stuff. It seems to me unnatural that one would expect to escape regret for one’s sins.
I have to say, though, that these passages:
“Making yourself feel bad for what you do wrong is “self-made religion” because the pain we feel seems to justify our wrongdoing.”
“Condemning ourselves after we have done something wrong gives us a false sense of being “good” again.”
...describe something that is entirely foreign to my experience and contrary to common sense. How could regret for one’s sins make one feel “good again?”
Some feel the need to pay the price for their sins somehow. I don't think it's the regret that makes them feel good again, but some satisfaction afterward that they "paid" their debt.
Of course when the wages of sin are death, they'll never truly get there unless they accept Christ's atonement for their sin.
“I don’t think it’s the regret that makes them feel good again, but some satisfaction afterward that they “paid” their debt.”
I guess restitution and penance could make a person feel better to some degree, but it’s still not like they never committed the sin in the first place. Then, too, there arfe some sins for which restitution is not possible.
“Of course when the wages of sin are death, they’ll never truly get there unless they accept Christ’s atonement for their sin.”
Yes, and even so, there are consequences of the sin to work out.
He seeks the Lord's mercy through prayer and fasting while the child is alive, but does he show regret?
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