Godly Sorrow or Worldly Sorrow?

Have you ever been caught in the act of doing something you had already been instructed not to do? I’m mindful of a time when I was out in a boat with my brother and my cousins, as they were visiting one weekend. Uncle Stan and my Dad were fixing a fence at the front of our property, and Stan Jr. decided he would play basketball. That left Cliff and Kyle who joined us in the boat for a little fishing expedition.

One of the rules at our house was anytime we went out in the boat, we had to wear a lifejacket. Needless to say, the four of us got in the boat without a single lifejacket. Dad spotted us from the house and called us in to the bank of the lake, as he swatted us all for being disobedient. All four of us were punished. We weren’t sorry we disobeyed; we were sorry we got caught!

Paul addresses the church at Corinth and commends them on their godly sorrow in 2 Corinthians 7:8-10. They were truly sorry their sins had hurt God. The opposite of this is what I call the cookie-jar syndrome. When someone is sorry they got caught, it’s like getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar. That person isn’t sorry they took the cookies; they are sorry they got caught! Those in Corinth experienced something life-changing. Paul says “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" (2 Cor. 7:8-10).

Many people in the world are only sorry when they get caught. God is pleased when those who sin against Him are pierced to the heart, even as the multitude did on the day the church was established (Acts 2:37). When we experience Godly sorrow, we are led to repent from our sins to change our actions. Only when someone experiences Godly sorrow will they show actions worthy of repentance. Worldly sorrow leads you down the wrong path. In fact, those who only experience worldly sorrow won’t have the chance to put on their “lifejacket” when they are cast into the lake of fire after judgment day (Rev. 20:14). Which type of sorrow do you experience in your spiritual life: Godly sorrow or worldly sorrow?