GOD USES SORROW FOR HIS PURPOSES

2 Corinthians 7:10

For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

When most people think of tough times, they think of physical or fiscal trouble. But what about spiritual difficulty? What about those occasions in life when we become aware of the wrongness of certain attitudes or actions?

Second Corinthians 7 addresses this topic of godly sorrow. The apostle Paul had previously written a stern letter to the church at Corinth, rebuking the believers for certain wrong actions. They might have become hostile in the face of such confrontation. Or they might have reacted with worldly regret—a self-centered, superficial remorse about being caught.

Instead the Christians at Corinth reacted with true, godly sorrow. They saw their sin, in all its ugliness, as an affront to a holy God. From this place of genuine spiritual sorrow they humbly sought forgiveness and the power to change.

God can use sorrow for our good and his glory—but not if we are hard-hearted and hardheaded. 

GOD’S PROMISE TO ME:

• I use spiritual regret in your life to bring you back to me.

MY PRAYER TO GOD:

Thank you, Lord, for the deep conviction of sin that you bring into my life. A guilty conscience proves you love me, and it points me back to you. I want to respond to your convicting work with humility and repentance. Keep me from the snare of being sad about sin’s unpleasant consequences, but not sorrowful over the sin itself. Amen.