"If Only"

If only I had said it,

I really wish I had,

But now they’re gone to heaven,

It makes me feel real bad.

So many now have gone there,

That I love and know,

Wish one more time I told ‘em,

Or had the chance to show,

That I really loved ‘em,

And miss ‘em everyday,

And now I think if only,

I had one more chance to say.

If only I had done it,

Long before I did,

Broke those sinful habits,

And by God’s grace got rid,

Of selfish, bad behavior,

That caused a lot of pain,

God’s grace has forgiven,

But my regret remains.

If only I came sooner,

If only I stayed long,

If only I’d done better,

And not have been so wrong.

I’m learning the “if onlys”,

Can really bring me down,

I hear the Spirit saying,

When they come around,

To give them all to Jesus,

Because they try, you see,

To keep me feelin’ guilty,

And God says not to be.

He uses all if onlys,

Redeems the past so we,

Will live for Him and trust Him,

He died to set us free.

I could spend two lifetimes,

Trying to repay,

The debt that Jesus cancelled,

He says I am okay.

And not to be presumptuous,

Or licensed to excuse,

But have the grace to let things go,

And from guilt to be loosed.

If only I can see it,

The way God helps me see,

With no more condemnation,

Let God heal my memory.

“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus…” (Romans 8:1, NLT)

We know Jesus died to forgive us, and we have accepted His forgiveness by faith. But sometimes our regret remains. The Bible speaks of “godly sorrow” as a necessary ingredient for true repentance. We’ve all felt it. But what happens to many of us is that our past mistakes still haunt us. We replay the scenario, time and again, in our minds. We imagine a different result, and have mental anguish that we didn’t do things better. Some have called this needing to forgive ourselves. There is no specific scripture verse that tells us to do so, other than forgiving everybody. But the condemnation of regret and the transgressions that continue to accuse us are not from God. In fact, the devil is called the “accuser of the brethren.” We need to give all our regrets to God, and refuse, in Jesus’ name, to live under condemnation. Jesus died to set us free.

Lord, free us from condemnation, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Clark Kelley Price, used by permission. Thanks, Clark, and God bless you.