Why? Because every day, every hour, every second is a new chance to start over. At times, we can carry so much pent-up guilt and shame on a daily basis that it's astounding we can even function at all.
We bury the guilt, hoping it'll go away, not having to deal with the pain or consequences of wrong choices. But consequences are inevitable. So if I want my life to be a certain way, I need to act according to what I want those consequences to be.
Nobody likes negative consequences. It seems like they throw a wet blanket on the fun, and nobody wants to be a prude.
But that's not what negative consequences were meant to do. Yes, they're meant to help us learn, but it's more than that. It's more than just book-learning of right and wrong. They're really meant to redirect us, open our perspective, and grant us the opportunity for compassion - both on ourselves, and those with whom we come in contact. In short, they're meant to guide us back to where we were meant to be in the first place, and even better than we were before.
I think a lot of times, we unnecessarily take it upon ourselves to "be our own Savior." We're taught from a young age that when we make a mess, we need to own up to it, and then feel really bad about it. It's only after we've stewed about it and let that guilt fester (go to your room and don't come out until I say so!), even independently punishing ourselves, that we are the ones to clean it up on our own.
But that's not the way genuine change happens.
Rather than help us get out, choosing to dwell in shame keeps us digging the same hole we got ourselves into in the first place. And everyone knows you can't get out of a hole by digging even more. Even though it may help in the short run, being your own judge, jury and executioner has never been a healthy way of fostering lasting, genuine change for the better.
Thankfully, someone's standing outside the hole with a rope and an outstretched hand. Thankfully, we can start again. Just because we made a mistake doesn't mean we have to make it again. And that includes mistakes we've made over and over, even for years. Dwelling in shame and secrecy is the best way to keep making a mistake, if that's what you want to do. Letting Christ carry the burden and repenting is the best way of getting out. Only Christ can replace regret with relief. Only He can replace guilt with peace. It's only through Him that we can truly, genuinely start over.
If we've made mistakes, we can start over. We can build again. Mistakes do not define us. Thankfully, they never will!
