Regrets over past mistakes or wrongdoings can be carried like a crown of thorns where every day we press them deeper and suffer that bit more. If only’s can cause us untold mental torture and also condemn us to live in the past where we even deny ourselves hope for the future. Ultimately it is only we who can remove that painful crown. Even after accepting God’s forgiveness and having practiced self-forgiveness the consequences of our actions remain leaving a psychological need to practice some form of restitution. In the Christian tradition St Paul provides a good example. Having persecuted the early Christians he could have persecuted himself for the rest of his life. Instead, following his conversion, he went on to become the greatest missionary the church has ever known with his letters being read in every part of the globe to this very day. By the way he chose to live his life he more than made up for his past. Every saint has a past while every sinner has a future and that future can more than make up for earlier wrongdoings.
Therein lies the power of Christ's forgiveness!!