We ought not to have any shame for past forgiven sins nor regret. Regret means we think God never forgave us.
Regret is a feeling of sadness, disappointment, or distress about past actions, wishing things could be different. They cannot be changed but they can be wiped from the ledger as though they never existed.
Nothing in the past can be eliminated, but it can be forgiven by God to carry on in the future with greater wisdom.
2 Corinthians 2:10-11 " 10 If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And if I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven it in the presence of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan should not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes."
Matthew 6:14-15 "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours."
No one can grow in wisdom who does not confess their sin, so that God will transform them into someone different from the person who committed the past sin.
Many Christians pretend they have no sin and walk around with continual guilt, defending themselves over things that would help them learn better if they would simply admit them.
We have no need to confess what God has already forgiven. Anything that has been previously confessed and forgiven ought never to be brought up again. To bring it up again is to say that God never forgave it. Especially holding past sins against others, this is the sin of pride and unforgiveness.
There are those who like to hang onto past forgiven sins of others, thinking they will bring their target down while elevating themselves.
The irony of holding past forgiven sins against others is that the one doing it has not been forgiven for theirs: the sin of accusations that no longer have any relevance.
Luke 18:11-14 "11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
Do not allow others to guilt you into believing God never forgave you.
Do not make friends with people who love to elevate themselves by judging the past sins of others. God said, "Bad company corrupts good character."
What judgers do to others they will do to you; their influence is powerful, and we must avoid them. The devil uses them to ruin faith, peace, joy, and friendships.
According to God past forgiven sins no longer exist, nor did they ever exist.
Micah 7:18-19 "…18 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion? 19 He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea."
Walk each day blessed with the knowledge that when Christ changed us He transformed us completely.
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