Daily Devotionals

Music For the Soul

Devotional: May 13th

TRUE AND FALSE SORROW FOR SIN

Godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation, a repentance which bringeth no regret: but the sorrow of the world worketh death, - 2 Corinthians 7:10

There is a broad distinction between the right and the wrong kind of sorrow for sin. "Godly sorrow" is literally rendered "sorrow according to God’’ which may either mean sorrow which has reference to God, or sorrow which is in accordance with His will; that is to say, which is pleasing to Him. If it is the former, it will be the latter. I prefer to suppose that it is the former sorrow, which has reference to God.

And then, opposite to that, there is another kind of sorrow, which the Apostle calls the "sorrow of the world," which is devoid of that reference to God. Here we have the characteristic difference between the Christian way of looking at my own faults and shortcomings, and the sorrow of the world, which has got no blessing in it, and will never lead to anything like righteousness and peace. It is just this - one has reference to God, puts its sin by His side, sees its blackness relieved against the "fierce light" of the Great White Throne, and the other way has not that reference.

To expand that for a moment, there are plenty of us that, when our sin is behind us, and its bitter fruits are in our hands, are sorry enough for our faults. A man that is lying in the hospital, a wreck, with the sin of his youth gnawing the flesh off his bones, is often enough sorry that he did not live more soberly and chastely and temperately in the past days. That fraudulent bankrupt that has not got his discharge, and has lost his reputation, and can get nobody to lend him money enough to start himself in business again, as he hangs about the streets slouching in his rags, is sorry enough that he did not keep the straight road. The " sorrow of the world " has no thought about God in it at all. The consequences or sin set many a man’s teeth on edge that does not feel any compunction for the wrong that he did. My brother, is that your position?

And then we can come a step further. Crime means the transgression of man’s law; wrong means the transgression of conscience’s law. Some of us would perhaps have to say, "I have done crime." We are all of us quite ready to say, " I have done wrong many a time "; but there are some of you that hesitate to take the other step, and say, "I have done sin," which is the transgression of God’s law.