Guilt vs. Regret

I have been thinking alot about the difference in guilt and regret and here is what I have come up with...

Guilt is knowing you are doing something not God honoring, where regret, a step further, is having participated in the less than God honoring activity and wishing you could change the outcome.

Both are used by the Holy Spirit to change our direction, but both are also used by the devil to hold us captive. Max Lucado says "Guilt is a healthy regret for telling God one thing and doing another. To feel guilt is not a tragedy, but to feel no guilt is!!" Wow, how true. That still, small voice is a great feeling if you respond to it, but if you don't, you are setting yourself up for trouble. I love the example Lucado uses with the apostle, Peter.

"Luke tells us that Peter followed Jesus from a distance. Not too close, yet not too far. The disciples chose the left side of the road and ran. Jesus chose the right side of the road and obeyed. But Peter chose the yellow stipe down the middle. BIG mistake. He would have been better off in the shadows with the disciples. He would have been better off in the courtyard with his master. But instead Peter is warming his hands on the devil's hearth.
With each denial Peter inches closer to the edge of the canyon...until the ground gives way and he falls. Have you been there? Have you felt the ground of conviction give way beneath your feet? The ledge crumbles, your eyes widen, and down you go. Now what do you do? You could stay in the canyon. Many do. Many live their lives in the shadows. Many never return. Some dismiss their deeds. "Well, everyone has a little slip now and then." Some deny their deeds. "Fall? Me? Are you kidding? These aren't bruises. These aren't cuts. I'm as healthy as I've ever been. Me and Jesus? We are tight.? Some distort their deeds. "I'm not to blame. It's his fault. It's society's responsibility. If the people hadn't asked me, I wouldn't have answered. Don't point the finger at me." When we fall, we can dismiss it, deny it, distort it, or we can deal with it. Luke adds a chilling phrase to his account of Peter's denial of Christ. When the cock crowed, "the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter." (Luke 22:61)"

I can't imagine Peter's guilt at that moment. To look right into Jesus' eyes and know He knows. To know that you let Him down. I've been there too many times, but luckily I've never physically had to look God in the eye, that would be unbearable I think.

As Peter met Jesus' eyes he left and cried painfully. Here is his confession, every tear a cry out for God to forgive and restore. But what if Peter didn't confess, he would have missed what God had intended for his life. Think how many lives would have gone untouched.

We all find ourselves in canyons at times. I think we have two choices, first, let God pull us out and, through His grace, use us to minister to others through the pain that we encountered there, or second, we can stay in the canyon and live a life full of regret.