Godly sorrow

Cop and robber stories like NCIS, CIS, Blue Bloods and others are usually in the top twenty television shows watched in any given week. Most viewers like to see criminals caught and justice done. What I’ve noticed is that the bad guys seldom express regret, and if they do, it is usually the regret that they got caught.

The Bible makes a distinction between this kind of regret and the grief God wants us to have when we do wrong. Worldly sorrow is not the same as godly sorrow.

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. (2 Corinthians 7:10)

Spurgeon says that genuine, spiritual mourning for sin is the work of the Spirit of God. We cannot experience this without Him. The reason for this is that repentance is “too choice a flower to grow in nature’s garden.” In our natural state, we love sin. Therefore, penitence never shows itself in sinners unless God is at work in that person. If there is any real hatred for sins committed, it is there because God puts it there.

Those who have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ know this is true. We know that our human sinful nature is filled only with that “I want what I want when I want it” attitude. We will even manipulate sorrow or fake it for our own benefit. Because “that which is born of the flesh is flesh,” we cannot produce true repentance.

Then how do I know when my sorrow for sin is real? Spurgeon says it has a distinct reference to my Savior. I will be thinking of Jesus and the cross when I repent, realizing the ugliness of my sin in the light of His sacrificial love for me. My sorrow is over the fact that I have put Him there. My sin is the reason that He died. I might think of the consequences to me, but godly repentance never forgets the consequences to the Son of God.

Spurgeon adds that godly repentance is practical. No one can hate sin without wanting to be rid of it. I don’t put my hand in a fire now that I know it will burn me. I don’t play with snakes now that I know they will bite me. Each day I am aware that my sinful nature wants its way. I must walk in the Spirit, abandoning all selfishness. Analyze the motives behind even the television crimes and it is easy to see the practicality of repentance.

Godly repentance is also continual. I expect to repent until my dying day. Other sorrows yield to time, but this one grows as I grow. This is why I’ve shaken my head when others suggest getting older makes walking with Christ easier. Sorrow for sin and repentance leads to salvation without regret, yet it is a bittersweet and continual part of Christian growth and maturity.

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Oh Lord, I am thankful that You are the Author and Finisher of my salvation. You came into my life and put into my heart the fact of Your love for me — and the fact of my total disregard for You. You enabled me to feel the horror of what I have done against You and failed to do in response to You. You have given me godly sorrow over and over. Oh, I know the other kind, the sorry-I-got-caught sorrow that leads downward, but this repentance is a sweeter sorrow, one that draws me ever closer to You. It also leaves me with no regrets (except regretting sin) because when I repent, You forgive — a blessing beyond anything I could ever earn or deserve.