January 15

Godly Sorrow

See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.  ––2 Corinthians 7:11

Let’s dig deeper into the two different types of sorrow. Here are my definitions:

Worldly Sorrow – Sadness, regret, or sorrow that is flesh-based, focused on material consequences, and leads to shame and spiritual death.

Godly Sorrow—Sadness, regret, or sorrow that is God-based, focused on eternal outcomes, and leads to health and spiritual redemption.

Paul had to get in the face of the Corinthian believers. They were living in a very pagan city and were struggling to maintain moral lives. His concern led to chastisement, which led to their repentance. He highlights the fact that their godly sorrow produced truthfulness, honesty, a desire to get right with God, and deep concern over what they’d been doing.

Sorrow—in everyday terms, sadness and regret—is an unavoidable part of life. The question for God’s man is this: how will we respond when sorrow hits us? How will we react when the conviction of the Holy Spirit falls on us after we stray? When we run, hide, or otherwise sidestep the truth, it leads to what God calls “death”—the death of our desire to please God, and the death of our spirit itself.

Make no mistake, the inevitability of sorrow means we walk on a razor’s edge between allowing it to drag us down into the pit of despair and denial, or surrendering to God’s process, which is to heal us, renew us, and redeem us.

Don’t let Satan suck you down into the pit of worldly sorrow—practice the attributes of responding to life’s difficulties with godly sorrow:

Acknowledge when you have sinned, and come before His throne;

Keep short accounts in your relationships, and when problems arise, swiftly work to repair the damage;

Ask the Holy Spirit to filter the troubles and trauma that come at you through His lens, rather than the world’s. All of us will encounter sorrow—it’s just a matter of when and how. The only choice we have is how will we respond when sorrow comes.

Father, help me to take my failures and troubles to You, and may You use godly sorrow to redeem and restore me.