Regret is the most common negative emotion people experience. In fact, psychologists say we start feeling regret from early childhood (under 5 years old). Maybe that’s why it becomes second nature for us to say things like:
If only I had taken that job…
If only I had studied harder…
If only I hadn’t dated him…
If only I moved to that city…
These two little words, “If only”, can trap us in the past. We spend so much time living in the past, that we forget to be present in the here and now. But Scripture gives us a simple, sobering command, “Don’t look back.”
The Story of Lot’s Wife
Genesis 19:17 tells the story of Lot and his family’s escape form Sodom and Gomorrah. God clearly commands them, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.” Lot and his family had been warned. But in verse 26 we read, “But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”
She looked back, and she froze. Why? I believe it wasn’t because she was remembering her sins or suddenly had a change of heart about Sodom’s corruption. She looked back with regret, not over what she did, but over what she lost. Her home. Her things. Her Comfort.
Jesus later referenced her story in Luke 17:32-33, “Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.” Her glance backward wasn’t a harmless glance, it was a heart tethered to the past. And in that moment, she became a monument to regret.
Looking back hinders forward progress. If we are going to follow Jesus, we have to keep our eyes forward.
Couple of thoughts on the idea of not looking back…
1. Don’t Look Back at Sins That Have Been Forgiven
Back in my younger days, before I had kids, I owned my dream car, a charcoal VW Golf GTI. It was fast, clean, manual, and best of all, had a clean title. I made sure it was by running a CarFax history report. Now, if I ran that same report on my current cars… well, I’d probably find five cars welded into one salvaged title vehicle.
Many of us do the same with our lives. We constantly pull up the SinFax of our past, going over every dent, scratch, and wreck. We dwell on past brokenness, sin, and pain. Satan loves to remind us of every accident we’ve ever had.
But here’s the truth, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
The gospel doesn’t hide your past. It redeems it! Jesus gives you a clean title, not because you earned it, but because He paid for it.
Your identity is not in your brokenness. It’s in the One who was broken for you.
2. Don’t Look Back at Failures as Your Defining Moments
We all have failures. Failed classes, failed jobs, failed relationships, failed ministries. But failure isn’t final. Psalm 37:23-24 reminds us, “The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in Him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with His hand.”
Peter is a prime example. Jesus warned him he would fall, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31-32)
Jesus didn’t say if you turn back, He said when. Failure didn’t disqualify Peter; it prepared him to lead. You can either let failure define you or refine you. Choose the latter.
3. Don’t Look Back at Old Conflicts That Make You Bitter
Some people are stuck not because of sin or failure, but because of unresolved hurt. They rehearse the betrayal, replay the conversation, and rehash the pain. And each time, the wound is reopened.
I remember when my son set his sights on conquering the monkey bars at the park. At first, he hung there stuck, gripping one bar tightly, but too afraid to let go and reach for the next. He knew where he wanted to go, but couldn’t bring himself to release the bar behind him.
That moment is a picture of how many of us deal with past hurts. We want to move forward, but we’re still holding on to bitterness, to grudges, to resentment. And just like my son couldn’t move across the bars until he let go, we can’t move forward in life until we release what’s behind us. Forgiveness isn’t easy, but it’s necessary. Until you let go, you’ll stay stuck.
“Beloved, never avenge yourselves… ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19)
“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you… forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:31–32)
Letting go is not weakness, it’s freedom!
4. Don’t Look Back at Victories and Think You’ve Arrived
Not all “looking back” is about shame or sorrow. Sometimes we’re tempted to rest on yesterday’s success. But Paul warns against this from his own experience, “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead…” (Philippians 3:13-14)
Paul didn’t just forget his failures, he laid aside his victories too. His knowledge, his accomplishments, his spiritual resume. Why? Because the race wasn’t over.
As John Maxwell once said:
Above all, don’t dwell on yesterday’s victory. If your focus is on what’s behind you rather than what’s ahead, you will crash.
Past victories can create present pride, and pride halts progress.
Keep Looking Ahead
“Let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race… fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…” (Hebrews 12:1-2)
Fix your eyes on Jesus! Let go of what’s behind!
Let Jesus lead you, not into regret, but into redemption. Not into shame, but into strength. Not into the past, but into His future for you.
Blessings!
1st Photo: Photo by Greta Farnedi on Unsplash
2nd Photo: Photo by Jeff Kingma on Unsplash