Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorry brings death. ~2 Corinthians 7:10 (NIV)
Many believers don’t know the difference between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. Godly sorrow occurs when the Holy Spirit convicts our hearts if our lives haven’t lined up with God’s will. That conviction is meant to bring us to a place of repentance and when we repent, God’s Spirit and His grace encourages us and gives us the strength to change. The Lord tells us in Acts 3:19 “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” (NIV) It does our hearts good every once in a while to do a soul search and ask God if there is anything in our lives that isn’t pleasing to Him. You might just be surprised at how He responds. The Lord has an amazing way of showing us things we would never see if we didn’t ask Him. God isn’t in the business of unzipping us and filling us with wisdom and then zipping us back up! He has called us to seek Him and His wisdom with all our heart. When we choose to seek God’s wisdom, we find times of refreshing. We see who He is and how He intervenes and operates in the affairs of our life. As we spend time with God in His word and in His presence, He shows us just how much He loves us unconditionally. That love is what helps us get back on track. The patience God has with us is inspiring when we take an honest look at what we do and who we are capable of being.
Now the other kind of sorrow is worldly sorrow, and it is what you would call a “guilt trip”. Many people think of a “guilt trip” as something someone else puts on us, but the truth is, we pack our bags and spend much of our lives on guilt trips that don’t take us anywhere closer to God but actually leaves us doubting His love toward us. That is because we beat ourselves up so much, we wonder who could love us. Another word for this worldly kind of sorrow would be condemnation. When you feel condemned about something it eats away at you little by little, but you have no power to do anything about it. Condemnation comes from the enemy. The bible teaches the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. He steals our peace and our joy and our time when we allow him to cause us to dwell on our mistakes instead of seeking God’s wisdom and walking in victory through God's forgiveness. How much time do you spend conscious of your sin? The more we think about what all we haven’t gotten right or the more we think of all the wrong paths we have chosen and the wrong ways we have handled situations and people, the more we will let the enemy convince us that we don’t deserve all the wonderful things God has planned for our lives. God doesn’t give us what we deserve, He gives us what Jesus deserves! Don’t let the enemy talk you into living on a perpetual “guilt trip”. If you have any regret about something, go to God and ask for His forgiveness and then receive it. God’s forgiveness is a free gift that has already been paid for by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Receive it and you will experience life in a new and refreshing way!
Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. ~Acts 13:38 (NIV)
Have you been on a guilt trip lately?
Write an answer
Write an answer
Comments