regret

regret:
1. A sense of loss and longing for someone or something gone.
2. A feeling of disappointment or distress about something that one wishes could be different.

when a child does something bad...for the first time.. or not... and they learn a lesson from it.. are they expected to regret the decision they made to commit that activity?

or

when the prodigal son returned to the father... obviously (after all he'd been through) he learned and better understood the love of his father...so did he regret the decision to leave and squander his inheritance...did he regret the decisions and experiences that led him to this better understanding of it all?

some people say they don't regret decisions they've made on account of the lessons they've learned from them... i think that it's okay and right to regret...to repent...

repent:
1. to feel sorry, self-reproachful, or contrite for past conduct; regret or be conscience-stricken about a past action, attitude, etc.
2. to feel such sorrow for sin or fault as to be disposed to change one's life for the better; be penitent.
3. to remember or regard with self-reproach or contrition: to repent one's injustice to another.
4. to feel sorry for; regret: to repent an imprudent act.

so ... to regret is to repent...sort of... the similarity would be to feel bad about something you did...the difference is that to regret is only to wish it were different...to repent is feel so bad about it that you decide to change things so that the future will be different.

...yes, there's no reason for those who knew me before to ever trust me again... it's almost like my life before was one big lie... almost... but i know there was truth in it... even tho i messed up, denied it by my lifestyle, and pretty much screwed up my rep with people... God stood true then and stands the same now... His was, is, and will ever be the hope of the world... regardless of my faithfulness...