Monday August 07th, 2023
« In fact, to be distressed in a godly way causes people to change the way they think and act and leads them to be saved. No one can regret that. But the distress that the world causes brings only death. »
8 I am not sorry that I sent that severe letter to you, though I was sorry at first, for I know it was painful to you for a little while.
9 Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way.
10 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.
11 Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves, such indignation, such alarm, such longing to see me, such zeal, and such a readiness to punish wrong. You showed that you have done everything necessary to make things right.
12 My purpose, then, was not to write about who did the wrong or who was wronged. I wrote to you so that in the sight of God you could see for yourselves how loyal you are to us.
Understand
While generally sorrow is a bad thing, godly sorrow is good; it brings about repentance.
If you fall, first admit sorrowfully that you have made a mistake, then go to God pleading for mercy.
David was a man who had godly sorrow, that is why even though he made many mistakes in his lifetime, he kept on moving forward. He said in Psalm 51:3 CEV:
« I know about my sins, and I cannot forget the burden of my guilt. »
Several times in the Scriptures when David made a mistake, the Bible says his heart smote him.
You will not make progress if you are always shifting blame.
Only failures make excuses.
Godly sorrow leads you to learn from your mistakes.
David never repeated any of his mistakes because he was truly sorry for his sins.
If for instance, you fall into fornication because you were close friends with someone of the opposite sex, godly sorrow will alert you the next time you are getting close to someone who could make you fall, so you can break off that relationship.
Having godly sorrow does not mean feeling rejected by God when you do wrong.
The feeling of rejection is a trap of the devil to keep us out of Gods light. 1 John 1:9 GWT says:
« God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong. »
God is always happy to forgive and reconnect with anyone who has erred from the faith, as long as they confess their sins.
When God has had mercy on you and welcomed you back into His light, you must run away from anything that can make you fall again.
The doctrine of grace which teaches that you can continue in sin once you are born again it is a strategy of the devil to eradicate godly sorrow.
He raises up preachers to tell you that the Most Holy God does not mind if His children are unholy.
That is a big lie!
Prayer point: Father, give me a heart that will be genuinely remorseful and repentant any time I offend You.
Author: Bishop Enoch. A. Adeboye.
Edited by Naomie
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