According to “Brainy Quotes” Ingrid Bergman is quoted as saying, “I have no regrets. I wouldn't have lived my life the way I did if I was going to worry about what people were going to say” (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/i/ingridberg131922.html).

How wonderful it would be if all of us could say that we have no regrets. However, how can we say such, when each of us has committed sin (1 Jn.1:8)? Many sins are committed out of ignorance. Would we not have lived differently in the past, had we known the truths of God that we now know?

It is sad that the lovely Ingrid Bergman did not regret her tumultuous love affairs that must have caused her children pain and labeled her as an adulteress. But our intent here is to focus upon ourselves.

Can We Live Without Regret?

I know that I have regrets. I regret harsh words of impatience with my children, and others. I regret not spending more time with those beloved family members and friends who have passed on. I miss my grandmother who has been gone for so many years. I was a new convert and had no idea how to reach her heart. I regret that I was not more mature in the faith, so as to make a stronger effort.

But the future is before me. How can I so live so as to minimize making more regrets? We are not left without direction.

The psalmist asked the question: “How shall a young man keep his way pure?” And the answer is: “By keeping it according to your word” (Psa. 119:9 NASV).

Again, “I have stored your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psa.119:11 ESV).

This principle of digesting the commands of the Lord applies to young and old. Would that more young men and women would make it their practice!

There is a regret that some will have for not accepting the teaching of the Scriptures. So many claim that sincerity is the ultimate gauge of one’s faithfulness to the word of God.

But the Lord said in John 4:24 that we must worship in “spirit” (attitude) and in “truth.” In Matthew 7:21-24 the Lord proclaimed that not everyone who does good works in the name of Jesus is acceptable to him. We must do what he says to do.

Being so busy with so many things is such a detriment to our Bible study. For many Christians it is not deliberate disinterest, but the result of pressures from the maniac pace that we keep these days. What can we do to remedy this problem?

Routines Are Tools

Choose A Method of Bible Study

Secondly, a method of Bible study could to be chosen for a period of time. One might chose a particular topic or word study based upon personal needs for comfort, strength for overcoming weaknesses. One may simply want to increase general Bible knowledge. Good books can help. (See: A Study Guide To Greater Bible Knowledge by Wayne Jackson.) Other study aids are good Bible dictionaries and commentaries. Many tools are now available online free. (See: http: www.crosswalk.com). We must be cautious regarding many sites, books, etc. Some teach denominational positions that are not correct.

Determine To Change Bad Habits

Thirdly, and perhaps most important, is the determination to change one’s habits. Habits are difficult to change. They are so ingrained from long standing practice. It takes diligent effort to incorporate new ones. When we take the time to re-train ourselves, it will pay rich dividends.

When we know the Scriptures, and when we are encouraged by our daily contact with God through them, and in prayer, how do we go about living so as to minimize our regrets?

Our days are so full. It is easy to get caught up in the “doing” of things, including good works, so much so that we are the proverbial “chicken with its head cut off,” just flopping around here and there without direction. As we plan our day, meditating upon how we will feel at the end of the day can be helpful. Will we regret some things we have done or left undone? We must caution ourselves about the kind of regrets we may have when we don’t get the laundry done, or make that fantastic dessert for someone special versus the way we have mistreated our loved ones or neglected to give attention to our children, mate, or elderly parents and grandparents.

So many Christian parents with grown children live with regrets. Too late they see how they should have put family and God first. Their hearts are torn for the errors they now regret. How different things might have been had they been more in tune with the biblical mandates for family life. Such sadness brings sorrow to all who love and care about them.

Planning Ahead Is Key

Making time for the important things, when there are so many temporal matters vying for our attention, is not always an easy task. Certainly planning ahead for worship on the Lord’s Day and other assemblies is vital to our spiritual growth, and our ability to live with fewer regrets.

Prioritizing is part of living with good conscience. To make some rusting, rotting thing more important than people is a grave destroyer of peaceful living. The apostle Paul taught the Galatians: “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time” (Gal. 4:6).

Following several verses concerning the path of mankind and the wrath of God over sin, David wrote about the brevity of life. Note this verse in particular: “So teach us to number our days, that we may get us a heart of wisdom” (Psa. 90:12). We don’t have a lot of time. Will we foolishly waste it? Or will we “buy up” opportunities for teaching, loving and living righteously so as to help others get to heaven? (cf. Eph. 5:16 ASVfn).

Let us pray the words of David: “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; and confirm for us the work of our hands. Yes, confirm the work of our hands” (Psa. 90:17 NASV).