Removing Regret

In college, after playing 2-on-2 with one of the managers on the school’s basketball team, he offered me something I did not expect.

Apparently, I impressed him because he offered me a shot at trying out for the team’s coach. He thought I’d have a legitimate chance of making it. However, once I heard that the team would not be going home for Thanksgiving, I declined the offer. That was as close to playing college sports as I ever got, and to this day, my biggest regret as an athlete.

We make mistakes. There is no shortage of that in anyone’s life. Sometimes, we hang onto those mistakes and relive them in our minds. That is regret. When it comes to making mistakes and regret, there is something truly awesome about being a follower of Christ. 2 Corinthians 5 explains that when we come to know and believe in Christ, our sins are forgiven. That means ALL our sins, including those in the past.

What it comes down to is forgiveness. Part of regret is our inability to forgive ourselves for a mistake. We can regret sins too, like wrong motives or actions or words. But if we have sought forgiveness for our sins, they are forgiven. God does not hold them against us. Instead, those forgiven sins are nailed to a cross.

If you need to seek forgiveness for something you regret in your sport, humbly talk to the coach or the team. If you have sinned in some way, seek the Lord for forgiveness – it is paid for by Jesus. Don’t carry that regret with you. It will only weigh you down.