Godly Sorrow
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. II Corinthians 7:10 (KJV)
Many times people become convicted of sin and wrongdoing, and they are sorry for it. However, there is a godly sorrow, and there is a worldly sorrow. One leads to true repentance and a turning to God, and one does not. The New Living Translation clarifies this for us.
For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. II Corinthians 7:10 (New Living Translation, NLT)
Godly sorrow is sorrow that shows us our sinfulness and causes us to come to Lord with a desire to turn away from sin and turn to God. Repentance means to turn away from something. When we have godly sorrow, we are sorry to the point that we want to turn away from it and head in a different direction.
The worldly type of sorrow does not lead to anything but death because there is no turning to God involved in it. Some people are sorry they did something, and they may even want to do better, but they do not go to the extent of turning away from the sin and walking away from it and to the Lord. Others are sorry simply because of the bad results they are experiencing because of their sin. For example, a criminal may be sorry that he was caught and is in prison, but is not sorry that he did the crime. That is not godly sorrow, and it leads only to one destination- death.
For [godly] sorrow that is in accord with the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but worldly sorrow [the hopeless sorrow of those who do not believe] produces death. II Corinthians 7:10 (Amplified Bible, AMP)
Godly sorrow always produces true repentance and a change. It is the difference between someone who sincerely prays a salvation prayer and is born again and someone who just says the words. It leads us to God, Who can cleanse us and take away all shame and regret. Godly sorrow always brings us to God and to eternal life.
