Resources/Articles
Regrets
And the king was grieved;
but for the sake of his oaths,
and of them that sat at meat with him,
he commanded it to be given.
Matthew 14:9
King Herod’s regret and sorrow was too late. He had lost his opportunity. He had put his foot upon a slide, and down he went. Maybe his reverence for John the Baptist brought him to such sorrow, but his promise to give Herodias’ daughter whatever she wanted was a grievous mistake. Whether his promises were precipitated by lust or in all good faith, the outcome was different than his expectation.
If you regret the mistakes you make, are you not strong enough to make a correction? Regret sometimes is an important element which leads to repentance. Regret can lead to a positive action like repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10), restitution, and renewal. Regret is often the result of a bad decision. Repentance is the attempt to recover from such a wrong choice.
Friend, regrets are useless when character is weak. People who fail to exercise self-control are always full of regrets, but those regrets do little or no good. Herod was grieved because his promise led to such an unexpected outcome, but he was too weak to refuse to do the wrong to which his action led. He was too ashamed to revoke his decision in front of his peers. He knew there would be whimpering, taunting, or mocking gestures should he decide to draw back from his promise to Herodias’ daughter. Herod shows us that a weak character will (1) always be sensitive to the crowd’s opinion, and (2) is constantly swayed by those of stronger opinion than one’s own conscience.
Although Herod did not admit how wrong his decision was, he never blamed it on someone else, bad timing, or his childhood. There may be times where it would be nice to have someone with us at all times who would support us with their closeness and watch our “Ps” and “Qs.” Maybe we would not have to regret so many of our decisions. If Jesus were with us, we would surely never make such irresponsible promises or act so foolishly. If a trusted person stood by us, would there still not be times that our actions would produce regret? Whose fault is it then? Is it my trusted companion’s or mine?
Jesus said, “Lo, I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). Even with those exhorting words, the apostles made regrettable mistakes. The Lord watches over us always, and we still act in ways which brings regrettable sorrow. You may punish yourself because of what has happened, but the proper action is to seek to recover. Follow God’s way. Have the character to change. Temptations are strong. Trials are severe. However, if a man does the right, self-restrained, good, thoughtful, and wise thing, he will lessen the occasions of regret and increase his favor with God and man (Luke 2:52).
