We hope you enjoy this re-post from September 4, 2014. Be blessed! The Today’s Quote From God Team

For godly grief and the pain God is permitted to direct, produce a repentance that leads and contributes to salvation and deliverance from evil, and it never brings regret; but worldly grief (the hopeless sorrow that is characteristic of the pagan world) is deadly [breeding and ending in death]. – 2 Corinthians 7:10, Amplified Bible (AMP)

In his article, What do people regret the most before they die?, Eric Barker reported:

Bronnie Ware worked in palliative care for many years, tending to people during the last three to twelve weeks of their lives. A handful of themes cropped up in the things they regretted during their final days:

Via The Top Five Regrets of the Dying:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

Within the list above, I see five regrets that arise from not living life in full accordance with God’s Word. For example, “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me,” is a regret that arises from not grasping the truth of scriptures like Proverbs 29:25.  Proverbs 29:25 (AMP) states:

The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever leans on, trusts in, and puts his confidence in the Lord is safe and set on high.

God created us for His pleasure and for His purposes, and there is no more complete way to be true to ourselves than to follow God’s purposes for our lives. When we let the opinions of others prevent us from following the path that God has shown us, then we will find ourselves at the end of life with great regret in our souls.

“I wish I didn’t work so hard,” is a regret that comes from failing to understand the wisdom of Luke 10:38-42 and of Psalm 127:2. In Luke 10:38-42, Jesus admonishes Martha not to let the frenzy of work rob her of spending time on the most valuable activities in life. Psalm 127:2 goes so far as to call anxious toil “vanity” because people who work anxiously and constantly trust in their own power of provision more than God’s. Don’t get me wrong: the Bible is filled with verses that praise hard work and that criticize laziness.  But, the Bible also teaches the idea of work-life balance, a concept that American culture has been obsessed with for years.  Yes, there is a time to work, and we will (and should) spend most of our adult waking hours at work. But, we miss the boat if we allow work to so consume us that we crowd out the most important things in life: building our relationships with God, with family, and with friends.

Stay tuned for God’s answers to:

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.