Sorrow To Repentance

Today we tend to think of anything uncomfortable or sorrowful as bad. We try to avoid discomfort like the plague. Unfortunately we can miss some blessings that come from the hard times and the failures, where we learn and grow.

Often today, we are so worried about looking loving, that we can frequently fail to actually be loving. Encouraging someone in their sinful lifestyle may feel loving, but it is harmful to the one being encouraged and it is taking the easy way out for the one doing the encouraging. Sometimes the most loving thing we can do is to address the sin of those we love. Obviously this needs to be done in a loving and gentle manner, but with firmness and truth.

For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while— I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter. (2 Corinthians 7:8-11) {emphasis mine}

Paul wrote to the Corinthians to address some sin issues. He hated writing something that would make them sorrowful. He may have even wondered if his loving rebuke would be taken badly and cause a division, but Paul did what was right. By rebuking the church and making them sorrowful, he acted “according to the will of God.” Now that the Corinthian church had repented, he could rejoice without regret because the church members had been made right with God.

There is some sorrow unrelated to our actions, like illness or the loss of a loved one or even persecution, that is due primarily to the sin of others in the world. We can also have godly sorrow when we act in an ungodly manner, but then repent of our actions. Helping others turn from sin to God is the most loving thing we can do, if done in a loving, helpful manner.

Don’t be afraid to address sin when you see it, but of course you must first address your own sin, so you don’t act as a hypocrite. Still, avoiding addressing an obvious, out in the open sin is not being loving. It is being selfish because it is taking the easy way out instead of doing the hard thing to help the other person.

May our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, lead us and guide us in wisdom and love to address sin, first in our own lives, but then in the lives of those around us, so everyone may grow closer to our holy Lord in Heaven.

Trust Jesus