Godly Sorrow

“For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.” 2 Corinthians 7:10

I was born last in a family with six kids. My youngest brother is just a year older than I am. We were very close growing up, but definitely not without conflict. Although I can’t even remember the offense, I do remember getting really mad at him once. We were arguing about something and he ran off into his room and locked the door. I guess I wasn’t finished giving him a piece of my mind, so I pursued him. When I discovered he had locked himself in, I proceeded to kick the door. Not a very smart thing to do. 

I regretted kicking that door, but I wasn’t sorry for the reason I kicked it. There was a lot of pain in my foot, but there was no change in my heart. Paul talks about godly sorrow versus worldly sorrow. The kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and toward God. This kind of sorrow looks to Christ for hope, who turns regret into a lasting change of heart. Godly sorrow causes us to turn away from wrong things and turn toward God. Worldly sorrow contains deep remorse which we carry around like a heavy burden. It doesn’t look to Christ. This kind of sorrow sees no hope and produces no change. This kind of sorrow only leads to death. 

Peter was deeply sorry for denying Christ, but his sorrow was turned to hope when he received Jesus’ forgiveness and turned away from what he had done. Peter’s sorrow resulted in life. Conversely, Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss and thirty pieces of silver. Although Judas deeply regretted betraying Jesus, he didn’t look to Jesus for forgiveness. Judas saw no hope and eventually took his own life. Judas’s sorrow resulted in death. 

There may be things in your life that you are sorry for. Holding on to regret will never produce lasting change. Turn your regrets over to Jesus and let him turn your sorrow into lasting change.