In Process

So I have been thinking about something for the past few days. I will begin by saying that this is still in process and I am still in process. I have been wondering if when we get to heaven and we see Jesus face to face if we will feel any regret, or feel sorry for hurting the people we may have hurt while we were alive.

At first when I started thinking about this I thought that this was going against everything that the Bible says in regards to heaven. You know is Sunday school when we are told that in heaven Jesus will wipe away every tear, and there will be no more sorrow, crying, and mourning. So then there would be no way that we would feel regret when we look Jesus in the face and in the eyes when we get to heaven. At least in my mind. However as I was driving home yesterday Jesus reminded me of the story of Jesus restoring Peter when he asked him three times, "Do you love me?" So I read that today, and Peter got to look Jesus in the eyes while he was still on earth, for the rest of that we have to wait until heaven to see Jesus face to face. If I were Peter I would have felt awful looking Jesus in the face knowing what I had done and that he was still choosing to forgive me. So what will make seeing Jesus face to face in Heaven any different?

However I was not totally satisfied with just reading the story of Peter in John 21. I read Revelation 7:17 and 21:1-4. I won't type them out here, so you can go read them for yourself. The short version is that yes Revelation 21:4 says that He will wipe away all our tears, and there will no longer be crying, mourning, etc. However this all happens after John sees a new earth and a new heaven. Not the earth we have now or the heaven that we go to now. Plus the words that He will wipe away every tear would to me indicate that there are tears in the heaven that exists now. For tears to be wiped away they have to exist already. So then a person who dies could feel regret, and be sorry for the things he or she did.

Like I said this is still in process for me. I still have a few more commentaries to read, and one more person to talk this through with. However for me I feel some comfort in knowing that my earthly dad may actually feel some sorrow and regret for the things he did now that he is in heaven.