Godly Sorrow

August 19

Job 18-19

Psalm 94:1-7

Proverbs 20:24-25

2 Corinthians 7

Godly Sorrow

“For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it—for I see that the letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while—I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to repentance.  For you were made to have godly sorrow, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.  For godly sorrow produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world brings about death.”  2 Corinthians 7:8-10  LSB

Paul came to Corinth on his second missionary journey.  He stayed there for a while working as a tent maker and preaching the gospel whenever he got the chance.  As a result a small group of believers formed a church in Corinth.  As he moved on to other locations on his journey he received word about misconduct in the church there.  He wrote the letter we know as I Corinthians to address these issues.  He knew his words would be hard for them to hear because his message was harsh, but he also knew that they needed to hear what he had to say.  He was frustrated with their unfaithfulness and wanted them to turn away from their evil practices.  Apparently, the Corinthians listened to his admonitions, repented and were correcting their ways.  Several months later, he wrote another letter, 2 Corinthians, that had a very different tone.  He was anticipating another visit to Corinth, although later than he had hoped.  He explained to them why he had to change his plans and then went on to warn them about false teachers who were trying to lead them astray.  This letter is more emotional than his other writings as he tried to make them understand that he still loved them and believed that they were true disciples of Jesus.  He wanted them to be encouraged as they forsook their old ways and embraced their new life in Christ.  He knew they lived in a city surrounded by immorality and pagan worship, most prominently the worship of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, which involved temple prostitution.

In chapter 7, Paul explained to them that he had regretted making them sorrowful, but then he realized that his message had resulted in their repentance and had drawn them closer to the Lord so he was able to rejoice in their sorrow.  This hits home with me.  Over the years, I have had the opportunity to mentor and disciple several people.  The most difficult part of that process is having to speak difficult truths to them.  It is necessary and unavoidable, but nonetheless, hard.  I can remember many sleepless nights worrying about what I said or how I said it, wondering if they would understand or if my words were too difficult for them to hear.  I pray that my words were from God and not just my opinions and anything that was not from God would be forgotten or disregarded.  My desire is always that they experience godly sorrow and not sorrow that comes from the world.  Godly sorrow results in turning to God in humility and repentance, but worldly sorrow results in shame and is rooted more in regret over getting caught than recognition of sin and a desire to please God.  How do you deal with correction?  Do you respond with godly sorrow?  The most important factor in dealing with sin in our lives is not what we did but what we do next.