When I was a child, like most children, there were times I misbehaved and disobeyed my mom. Often, I would try to conceal my disobedience. However, my mother could sense when something was wrong. In most cases she eventually found out what I had done. Sometimes, she would catch me red handed. I would cry and plead with her, telling her how sorry I was for disobeying her and vow never to do it again. I can remember my mom asking me, “Are you really sorry or just sorry you got caught?”
At the time, I did not quite understand that question. I always thought “sorry” was “sorry.” As I grew older, I began to understand the huge difference between being sorry because my bad actions had been exposed and actually being sorry for what I had done. Therein lies the difference between godly sorrow and natural worldly sorrow.
II Corinthians 7:10 (NKJV) states, “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”
Godly sorrow is a matter of the heart being changed which leads a person to repent. This type of sorrow causes a person to regret his wrong actions. Repentance produces a change in behavior and leads to salvation. Although repentance begins in the heart, the most visible sign that a person has repented is a change in his or her actions. Paul said, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life],” II Corinthians 5:17 AMP.
On the contrary, natural worldly sorrow causes a person to feel regret for having been caught doing something wrong because he knows there will be terrible consequences for his wrong actions. His sorrow is produced from the fear of punishment. This type of sorrow is selfish and disingenuous. It causes a person to only think about how his life is going to be negatively affected. If there were no consequences for his actions, the person would do the same thing over and over again because he is not repentant. He is simply sorry his actions were exposed.
Godly sorrow produces change but worldly natural sorrow produces sadness and fear without true repentance and no real change in behavior. Jesus Christ wants us to be godly sorry for our sins, repent, have faith in Him and receive His salvation. We will make mistakes and will always need God’s grace to live a holy life. However, when we truly repent of our sin our hearts and actions will change. Our ultimate desire will be to please the Lord Jesus Christ.
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