Emotional contagion, is very real and when you become heated, it’s easy to become the very person you don’t want to be, and it usually ends with you doing or saying something you regret. We’ve all been there. It’s in times like this that we wish we could hit the reset button and have a do-over.
It’s easy to become the person on the sideline passing judgment. While watching a frustrated football player lose control after a very frustrating defeat, I was reminded of the story in the bible when Jesus was in the temple teaching, and the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. They told Jesus that according to the law, she should be stoned. Jesus being unbothered, stooped down and begin to use his finger to write on the ground. After they continued to question Jesus, He got up from the ground and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone first.” At that point, the bible tells us that many were convicted by their conscience and walked away one by one. Only those who are faultless have the right to pass judgment upon others.
There are no perfect people, and we should not expect people to be perfect. Most people want to do well. We all fall short at some point in our lives. None of us wake up flawless or unequivocally without fault, regardless of what the world tells us. We are all imperfect human beings.
Life can be messy and imperfect and cause us to regret our actions. No one has it all together. I don’t care who they are. There is only one that is perfect, and He died on the cross. This does not mean that we should not strive for perfection, just remember it’s about progression. All we can do is be better today than we were yesterday. Remember, Christ doesn’t require our perfection. He accepts us as we are, flaws and all.
Mistakes can help us or hurt us. We can either wallow in our mistakes, or we can take steps to ensure we don’t repeat them. That’s why David was a man after God’s own heart. It wasn’t because David didn’t mess up. David committed adultery (2 Samuel 11), and David arranged the death of Bathsheba’s husband (2 Samuel 11:17). David was a man after God’s own heart because David confessed and repented his sin, and God forgave him (2 Samuel 12).
Maybe you messed up, and it hurts when you think about it. Feeling regret after a mistake is that part of you that knows better. If you do something wrong and you learn from it, then that mistake becomes helpful.
We’ve all done something at one time or another that we’ve regretted. Before you judge another, make sure that you are perfect.
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