Godly Sorrow
"Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way. 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." 2 Corinthians 7:9-10
There is a lie this world is pushing on everyone and because it sounds good many people are not only believing it but embracing it and living it like it is truth. That lie is that we are supposed to always be happy and that anything and anyone that doesn't make us happy or "serve us in a positive manner" needs to be removed from our lives. The goal for most people has become achieving and then maintaining happiness all the time. If it's hard they quit it. If it causes them discomfort they try to get rid of it. If it rubs them the wrong way they try to write if off or ignore it. The above passage clearly states that there is a type of sorrow that God wants His children to experience. Yes you read that right, and as hard as it may be to accept, the truth is that God's plans for our lives are not solely to make sure we are kept happy all the time. "For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:9
Why would a loving God want his people to experience sorrow? Because He knows the beginning from the end, He knows us better than even we know ourselves and He knows that to experience the life He created us to live we must remain close to Him and grow in our knowledge and understanding of Him and His Word and to do so means we can't just live life however we please. This will cause conviction, when we are in need of correction or change, and when we are in the wrong and accept this it will bring sorrow for how we have been living apart from our Lord and Savior and this kind of sorrow brings about a repentant heart which brings about a changed life! And it is in those moments that this kind of sorrow leads us to true joy. Joy from a life lived in close relationship with the Lord. Joy from a deeper understanding of who He is. Joy from knowing you are living the life He created for you and making a difference in others lives for Him. Just like as parents we are supposed to correct our children when they need it, God corrects us. Correction isn't pleasant, it doesn't feel good and doesn't give you the warm fuzzies deep down. But correction is necessary and good. It brings about the change that is needed. Children who are never corrected, whose parents just want to keep them happy, become very selfish, demanding grown ups. God corrects us because he loves us and wants us to experience a life that is so much richer than just temporal happiness. God allows hard things to happen for a variety of reasons but every reason is in the end to point us back to Him so we can experience Him in new deeper ways. Don't spend this life God's given you chasing temporal happiness all the time. He has so much better for you, but it may take some sorrow first for you to get to a place of being able to receive the joy that God has intended for all his children.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take." Proverbs 3:5-6
"But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit." Jeremiah 17:7-8
There is a lie this world is pushing on everyone and because it sounds good many people are not only believing it but embracing it and living it like it is truth. That lie is that we are supposed to always be happy and that anything and anyone that doesn't make us happy or "serve us in a positive manner" needs to be removed from our lives. The goal for most people has become achieving and then maintaining happiness all the time. If it's hard they quit it. If it causes them discomfort they try to get rid of it. If it rubs them the wrong way they try to write if off or ignore it. The above passage clearly states that there is a type of sorrow that God wants His children to experience. Yes you read that right, and as hard as it may be to accept, the truth is that God's plans for our lives are not solely to make sure we are kept happy all the time. "For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:9
Why would a loving God want his people to experience sorrow? Because He knows the beginning from the end, He knows us better than even we know ourselves and He knows that to experience the life He created us to live we must remain close to Him and grow in our knowledge and understanding of Him and His Word and to do so means we can't just live life however we please. This will cause conviction, when we are in need of correction or change, and when we are in the wrong and accept this it will bring sorrow for how we have been living apart from our Lord and Savior and this kind of sorrow brings about a repentant heart which brings about a changed life! And it is in those moments that this kind of sorrow leads us to true joy. Joy from a life lived in close relationship with the Lord. Joy from a deeper understanding of who He is. Joy from knowing you are living the life He created for you and making a difference in others lives for Him. Just like as parents we are supposed to correct our children when they need it, God corrects us. Correction isn't pleasant, it doesn't feel good and doesn't give you the warm fuzzies deep down. But correction is necessary and good. It brings about the change that is needed. Children who are never corrected, whose parents just want to keep them happy, become very selfish, demanding grown ups. God corrects us because he loves us and wants us to experience a life that is so much richer than just temporal happiness. God allows hard things to happen for a variety of reasons but every reason is in the end to point us back to Him so we can experience Him in new deeper ways. Don't spend this life God's given you chasing temporal happiness all the time. He has so much better for you, but it may take some sorrow first for you to get to a place of being able to receive the joy that God has intended for all his children.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take." Proverbs 3:5-6
"But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit." Jeremiah 17:7-8
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