2 Corinthians 7-4.4.22

Scripture 

2 Corinthians 7:10

“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”

Observation-What does it say?

“It helps if we remember the sequence of events. Things were going badly among the Christians in Corinth, and in an attempt to get them on track, Paul made a quick, unplanned visit that only seemed to make things worse (the “sorrowful visit” mentioned in 2 Corinthians 2:1). After the failure of this visit, Paul decided not to visit Corinth again in person at the time but instead sent Titus to them with a strong letter of rebuke. Paul was very worried about how the Corinthians would receive the letter and whether it would turn them to Jesus or just make them angry. When Titus came back with good news from the Corinthian Christians, Paul was greatly relieved.” (From enduringword.com)

Understanding-What does it mean?

Proverbs 27:5- Open rebuke is better than hidden love. 

In Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church, he felt the need to rebuke them of something, and was hoping it would not make them angry, but lead them back to godly repentance…back to Jesus. 

Life Application

Let us accept rebuke/correction with a humble and open heart, not a prideful heart, especially if it is by conviction of the Holy Spirit and/or a trusted spiritual leader. 

Yesterday, Pastor Levi preached a great sermon on Overcoming Temptation. One thing he said was, “As your Pastor, I don’t want you to take sin lightly.”

The difference between worldly and godly sorrow is that worldly sorrow doesn’t lead to repentance or change. It’s basically just feeling sorry that we got caught. Godly sorrow leads to a heart change and 180 degree turn. It leads us back towards Jesus because it is accepted with a humble heart. 

When a sin is pointed out to us or we are caught in a sin, do we have worldly sorrow or godly sorrow? None of us are perfect, but by His grace, we are continually in the process of looking more like Jesus (aka sanctification). Let us always pursue godly sorrow when convicted of sin so that nothing would hinder us from being fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

-Michelle Gaddi