Godly sorrow brings repentance
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” 2 Corinthians 7:10
I honestly admit and regret that I have failed God, my family, myself and others.
Result: I receive God’s forgiveness and thankfully rest in His Peace.
I am “Forgiven.”
*This expresses the difference between-“I am truly sorry for my sin” versus I’m sorry I got caught.”
What does it mean to repent? When you or I wrong another person, or we sin against God, do we simply say we are sorry and move on?
Is there anyone you need to seek forgiveness from?
- Acknowledging our sin is the first step.
- Humbling ourselves and taking actions to restore is the next step.
Love has no limits, and neither does forgiveness.
“Then Peter came and said to Him, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to Him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”Matthew 18:21-22
When we allow God to love others through us, it’s God they see in us and not ourselves.
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…”Galatians 2:20
Psalm 32:5. “Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.”
If you’re NOT willing to acknowledge you’re wrong, you’re saying you don’t need to repent. You see yourself as having done no wrong in the sight of God.
This Psalm tells us what God will do when we confess our sin before Him; He will forgive us our sins and give us peace.
Robert Bagne is the founder and president of The Hope Connection Ministry. A gifted Bible teacher and strategist, Robert is also the co-author and coach of Moving Forward: A Vision Without Action Is Only a Delusion.
Robert has a professional background in recovery ministry leadership. He currently serves with missions in Ukraine and leads the Elk River Sober Home Discipleship Program, equipping men for successful re-entry into society through faith-based guidance and accountability.
Alongside his wife, Laura, Robert writes daily devotionals, leads addiction recovery support groups, offers spiritual coaching, conducts interventions, and mentors pastors and missionaries around the world. The Bagnes reside in Ramsey, Minnesota, fully trusting God to provide as they faithfully walk in obedience to His calling.
Image by DEEPAI
Well stated man of God, I’m lovingly endorsing that Mankind has long considered trials to be distressing, but the word of God emphasizes that if a lesson is learned from them, they can be beneficial. Sorrow is salutary. Through great tribulation we enter the kingdom. “Trials are proofs of God’s care.”
The great characters of the Bible were sometimes confronted with adverse circumstances, and their way of handling these determined their progress. The story of Job and his troubles, whether or not one thinks of it as an allegory, portrays the problems faced by humanity in all ages. It can be helpful to anyone who is experiencing a trial. Here was an especially upright man, but it is clear that he placed his trust in both God and worldly beliefs. He wished to know God and to listen for His guidance, but he also believed in Satan .
Job’s belief in dualism brought disaster to him. Everything he had was swept away. His possessions were destroyed, and his children died. With all this mental turmoil and upheaval, Job became ill. He felt that he was being unjustly persecuted, but he also felt that there was a lesson he needed to learn. That he feared calamity is shown in his statement (Job 3:25), “The thing which. I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.”
Job’s three friends, who might be said to represent the religious and doctrinal beliefs of his day, came to mourn with and comfort him. But he received mainly condemnation from them; whereas he was seeking through them a better understanding of God. Then Elihu approached him and told him of God’s great power and works. Job finally attained a sense of his true at-one-ment with God as His child and could say of Him, Chapter 42, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.”
After this, Job was healed; not only was his wealth restored and increased, but more children were born to him. He had, it would appear, gained a truer idea of God as the parent Mind and the source of good. “Job’s faith and hope gained him the assurance that the so-called sufferings of the flesh are unreal. We shall learn how false are the pleasures and pains of material sense, and behold the truth of Almighty God, as expressed in his conviction. ‘Yet in my flesh shall I see God:’ that is, Now and here shall I behold God, divine Love.”
Your Friend -His Servant,
Isaac Otieno