I remember many years ago when the first Nintendo Entertainment System consoles were introduced. The graphics were light years ahead of Atari’s Pong. My 8 year old nephew was enraptured by the Mario Brothers as we all were. I began to notice that whenever he was playing, he would abruptly start the game over. I asked why he did that. He said that he did not like the way things were going. So instead of losing, he would press the reset button.
There are many such instances in my life where I wish I could have a do over. I am sure we all at one time or another have uttered the phrase, “If I only knew then what I know now.”
Unfortunately, life does not come with a reset button. Unlike Super Mario, we don't get to go back to the beginning. We simply have to keep moving forward from where we are.
Here are a few things we can do to stop us from living a life of regret.
1. Do our best to learn from the past. We don’t want to spend 10 years having the Holy Spirit trying to teach us something that we should have learned in 1 year. 2 Tim. 3:7
2. Keep our eyes on the Lord and not be consumed by mistakes of the past. Everything that God has for you is in front of you, not behind you. Phil 3:13-15
3. God uses our past experiences (even our mistakes) to help mold our character, but our past should not define who we are. 2 Cor. 5:17
4. The only race we can run is the one we are actually in. Get back in the race. Heb. 12:1
