Recommended Citation:
Lawal, J. O. (2025, February 26). It’s not just to make you sorrowful. Fire In My Bones_Youth for Jesus, 7(42).
“Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it — I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” (2Cor 7:8-11NIV)
What should rebuke or correction aim at accomplishing? As we see through Paul’s words in our opening text, it should aim at accomplishing repentance. This man of God, at some point, had to write a letter of rebuke and correction to the Corinthian brethren. And his words of rebuke and correction were so intense that he later received news that those words made these brethren sorrowful.
Now was he happy that the Corinthians became sorrowful on account of his letter of rebuke and correction? No! Why was he not happy that his letter made these brethren sorrowful? Isn’t that the purpose of rebuke or correction, making people feel sad and sorry for themselves?
Well, Paul was not happy that the Corinthians became sorrowful because of his words of rebuke and correction because he knew that being sorrowful about one’s wrongdoing is not the same thing as repenting of it. We may feel very terrible today about something we have done. That, however, does not mean we will never do it again, given the same or similar circumstances.
There are people, for instance, that always feel sorrowful each time they are involved in sexual immorality or each time they hurt someone they love. But have they stopped hurting the people they are hurting? No! Of what use, then, is their sorrow? Of no use!
Therefore, as we see in our opening text, what Paul was looking out for in the Corinthians was not just their sorrow about their wrongdoings; rather, what he was looking out for was their repentance. It was their repentance that would make him happy. It was their repentance that would show him the kind of sorrow they had.
See, as this apostle shows us, there are two kinds of sorrow. First, we have godly sorrow. This kind of sorrow produces repentance. In other words, it drives the one that has it to take necessary steps towards putting a stop to whatever they are doing wrong, so that they can begin to do what is right. Therefore, it will not leave them with regrets. Instead, it will make them receive God’s cleansing from the poison of sin and error.
Now that, of course, is the kind of sorrow God wants to see in us, when He corrects us. It is the kind of sorrow that Peter exhibited when he denied Jesus Christ three times in a row in one night. This sorrow made him see the folly of trusting in his own ability to follow the Lord. This sorrow made him draw even nearer to the Lord.
But then, we also have worldly sorrow. And Paul says this kind of sorrow brings nothing but regret and death. Yes, you are sorrowful about what you have done. But instead of turning to God for forgiveness and strength to repent, all you think about is your mess. And the more you load yourself with thoughts of regret about your mess, the more you want to punish yourself for it. Then, if you stay longer in that realm, it will not be long before you do something to harm your faith in God or to harm your life.
Remember Judas Iscariot. Remember that he killed himself for betraying Jesus. But he was not the only that failed Jesus that night. Peter and all the other apostles also failed him, to one degree or the other. But did they kill themselves? No! Why, then, did he kill himself? He killed himself because what he had was worldly sorrow. All he was thinking about was how someone like him could stoop as low as to betray his loving lord and master. He was not thinking at all about God’s grace for his cleansing, repentance and restoration. So, he made a bad situation worse for himself.
If we too don’t want to be making bad situations worse for ourselves, when God is correcting or rebuking us, we should never again focus on the mess we have made but on the need to make the most of God’s grace for our forgiveness, cleansing and repentance. Yes, we may be sorrowful about what we have done. But unless we are cleansed of it and set right, our sorrow will make no sense to God or result in the healing of our lives.
In like manner, in correcting or rebuking others, our focus should never be on making them feel bad or sorrowful, to the end that they may want to destroy themselves. Rather, it should be on encouraging them to repent and begin to do what is right. There are people who rebuke or correct only for the purpose of making others feel really silly and horrible for their wrongdoings. They care nothing about whether your sorrow leads you to repentance or not. They just want to make you feel very bad.
Now such people are simply being borrowed by the devil to destroy others. And if, for any reason, you should be a target of their rebuke or correction, you had better not allow them to fill you with the sorrow that destroys. Otherwise, you will only have yourself to blame.
Cheers!
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