In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he has to chastise the church to expel an immoral brother. In his followup letter, Paul commends them for their repentance. But more specifically, why they repented. Let’s take a look.
Paul was informed that his first letter caused grief to the church in Corinth and he writes that he regrets causing them grief. But their sorrow was for a good purpose. We’ll pick it up with verse eight.
“For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. 9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. 10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”
– 2 Corinthians 7:8-10
In these last few days of examining yourself as asking for forgiveness where needed, was there sorrow or grief involved? Does it pain you when you sin against God?
I remember friends back in high school who would go out on Friday or Saturday nights and do ungodly things with no regrets because they could just go to confession the next day and everything would be forgiven. Is that real forgiveness? Paul says that it is godly grief that produces repentance. Repentance means to turn from the things you have done.
Someone once said that saying sorry means you will never do it again. If you haven’t been grieved for the things you’ve confessed, pray that the Holy Spirit will bring sorrow to your heart so you can feel the grief the Father feels when we sin against Him.
Feel free to read through Psalm 27 again today.
Shalom.