I’m sure we’ve got preachers of various ages reading this blog. Some of you have been preaching for decades, perhaps, while others are just starting out. Regardless, it doesn’t take long to accumulate a few regrets.

We regret that time when we let our anger get the best of us as we responded to a critical, disgruntled member.

We regret that we procrastinated about sharing the Lord with that neighbor or frequent visitor . . . and then the opportunity was gone.

And most of us nurse a few regrets every Sunday night: Why didn’t I say that? Why did I say that? Why didn’t I prepare better? Why wasn’t I more forceful, or was I too forceful?

We regret hospital visits we didn’t make, notes of encouragement we didn’t write, and hugs or handshakes we didn’t offer.

The preacher’s conscience often works overtime.

But here’s an article I think you ought to read: A [Preacher’s] Greatest Regret after a Lifetime of Ministry.

It struck a nerve with me perhaps because the journal entry he refers to at the beginning of the article was written when his kids were the same ages as two of mine (17, 14).

Many of us can relate to what he says: Ministry will take as much time as you’ll give it, and if you don’t put in the proper guardrails, you’ll embrace the good and neglect the best.

We’ve all heard horror stories about the preacher who neglected his family and lost his marriage, or lost his kids, or maybe both.

I don’t want to be that guy, and neither do you.

Take five minutes and read the article, and then take another five or ten and find a quiet place to talk to the Lord.

Ask Him to order your life now so that you’ll never experience that greatest regret.