Regret Free Living, Advice From Stephen Arterburn

Bethany House Publishers

Living regret free is something everyone wishes to do(hopefully), but regretfully never make that first step to truly living beyond past mistakes. Stephen Arterburn is founder and chairman of New Life Ministries-the largest faith-based broadcast, counseling, and treatment ministry and is host of New Life Live! daily radio. He also authored helpful books and manuals such as Being Christian, Every Man’s Battle, and Midlife Manual for Men

The first thing Stephen reminds us in the beginning is that we must take responsibility for our portion of the hurt. This is one way to live regret free and another way to become mature. One can not honestly move forward until they figure out what stake they had in a relationship gone sour. This is cleansing and it will hurt to own up to those responsibilities. Arterburn even mentions his own unhealthy patterns of always running away when he “felt someone was doing something to him rather than with him”(30).

The next few sections discuss signs of an unhealthy relationship when it is time to break it off with a person. Arterburn is very candid when discussing this part because those who are married should always work hard to try and salvage the relationship. However when you have exhausted all your methods and find that the other person just doesn’t love you enough or vice versa, it is time to part. But you can continue to live regret free because at least you tried to save the relationship and have learned new lessons from it to take with you(Read more)