II Timothy 4:17-18 (ESV) So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Storming the Gates: ANXIETY ANGER REGRET PAIN ADDICTION DEPRESSION How Christ Sets Us Free

Storming the Gates: How Christ Sets Us Free REGRET

REGRET Storming the Gates: How Christ Sets Us Free More than 20 years Genesis 42:21-22 (ESV) 21 Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” 22 And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.” More than 20 years after Joseph is sold!

REGRET Storming the Gates: How Christ Sets Us Free What if I had chosen the other path? I can’t bear the weight of what I’ve done. Life moving along How can I move on if it can’t be fixed?

REGRET Storming the Gates: How Christ Sets Us Free Forms of Regret What if? A different decision made in the past would have led to greater happiness today. Result: discontentment, falling for lies Exodus 14:12 (ESV) 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.

REGRET Storming the Gates: How Christ Sets Us Free Forms of Regret Guilt Objective Guilt: having broken human or divine law We can be guilty without feeling guilty. Usually, the Bible is talking about objective guilt. Subjective Guilt: feeling regret, remorse, or sorrow over something we have done We can feel guilty without breaking human or divine laws. Usually what people mean when they talk about guilt.

REGRET Storming the Gates: How Christ Sets Us Free God’s Word to the Regretful “Having it all” does not guarantee happiness. Ecclesiastes 2:9-11 (ESV) 9 So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. 10 And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure … 11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

REGRET Storming the Gates: How Christ Sets Us Free God’s Word to the Regretful “Having it all” does not guarantee happiness. Contentment ends the “what if” game. Hebrews 13:5 (ESV) 5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

REGRET Storming the Gates: How Christ Sets Us Free God’s Word to the Regretful “Having it all” does not guarantee happiness. Contentment ends the “what if” game. Christ came to take away sin’s guilt. Colossians 1:21-22 (ESV) 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.

REGRET Storming the Gates: How Christ Sets Us Free God’s Word to the Regretful “Having it all” does not guarantee happiness. Contentment ends the “what if” game. Christ came to take away sin’s guilt. II Corinthians 5:18-19 (ESV) 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

REGRET Storming the Gates: How Christ Sets Us Free What Can We Do? 1. Help the person move out of the chains of the past to see the real present and future. James 1:16-17 (ESV) 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

REGRET Storming the Gates: How Christ Sets Us Free What Can We Do? 2. Help the person distinguish between objective guilt (liability) and subjective guilt (remorse). Romans 6:21-23 (ESV) 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

REGRET Storming the Gates: How Christ Sets Us Free What Can We Do? 3. Help prevent unhealthy guilt. “If parents are rigid, condemning, demanding, and unforgiving, their children feel like constant failures.” “Discipline must include abundant love, encouragement, and forgiveness.” -- Gary Collins, Christian Counseling

REGRET Storming the Gates: How Christ Sets Us Free What Can We Do? 3. Help prevent unhealthy guilt. Colossians 3:21 (ESV) 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

REGRET Storming the Gates: How Christ Sets Us Free What Can We Do? 4. Share the gospel. I John 1:9; 2:1-2 (ESV) 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness … My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

REGRET Storming the Gates: How Christ Sets Us Free What Can We Do? 1. Help the person move out of the chains of the past to see the real present and future. 2. Help the person distinguish between objective guilt (liability) and subjective guilt (remorse). 3. Help prevent unhealthy guilt. 4. Share the gospel.