We all make wrong decisions at some point in our lives. What's worse is that no matter how much we repent and ask God for His forgiveness, what's done is done and cannot be undone.
Many of us feel condemned by what we have done. We fail to understand that when God forgives our sins, He also forgets them.
He never condemns us for something He has already forgiven.
What many of us do not understand, however, is the fact that while God's forgiveness erases our offenses from His sight, we still have to face the consequences of our wrong decisions.
For example, God can forgive unmarried couples when they sincerely repent from committing premarital sex, but the unwanted child conceived will still develop and be born.
When the consequences and regrets haunt you
Friends, have you made a wrong decision that you regret badly and wish that it never happened? Let me encourage you: it happened, but God loves you still.
He will help you face the effects of your decisions boldly and with His grace.
In fact, one of the signs of complete repentance is taking responsibility for past actions. We call this "restitution." This is like Zacchaeus, when he repented of his sin before Jesus, he chose to pay back any and all that he had possibly stolen or acquired illegally (see Luke 19:8).
In our case, it's facing the consequences of our wrong decisions knowing that God has already forgiven us, and nothing can separate us from His love.
Encouraged to face the consequences
To help you face the results of your wrong decisions, here are a few Bible verses you should meditate on and live by.
Follow hard after Christ - Matthew 16:24-26
"Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"
God will cause all things to work for the good of those who love Him - Romans 8:28-30
"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. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified."
God's love can never be taken away from you, ever - Romans 8:37-39
"Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
