From sorrow to salvation …

My dad was not a decent human being. In fact, I don’t remember a single day in my childhood of not being dreadfully afraid of him.

So when I would get into an argument with the sister closest to my age, we would fight in hushed tones so that we wouldn’t get into trouble by our dad. That could be scary! But every now and then we would get carried away and a little too loud and then, suddenly, our dad’s voice would be heard yelling down the hallway, “Do I need to come in there?!”

My sister and I would immediately respond with shared terror, “NO!”

The panic and fear we felt in that moment wasn’t really being sorry for fighting with one another, we were sorry we got caught!

My mother, on the other hand, was the greatest source of human love I had ever experienced in my short lifetime, and I loved her deeply. It was a very rare thing that she ever had to correct me because I wanted to behave in a way that pleased her. Even so, I remember one occasion where I actually talked back to her in an ugly way, and I could see from the emotion that crossed her face that I had hurt her feelings and disappointed her.

My response?

I ran to my room and hurled myself onto my bed, weeping with great sorrow. I was utterly heartbroken that I had behaved in such a way that it had hurt my mother, and disappointed her. So great was my sorrow I knew right then that I never wanted to behave like that again because I never wanted to hurt her again. Just to finish the story, my mother came into my room moments later, sat next to me on my bed, placed her hand on my back and assured me she loved me.

Grace!

I knew all was well, then.

These two experiences from my childhood remind me of the difference between just being “sorry” for getting caught in our guilt, and experiencing a deep sorrow for our wrong and never wanting to return to it. Many of us approach the sin in our lives as something we might be “sorry” about when we feel caught in it, but the Apostle Paul helps us understand that it is essential that we experience genuine, heartfelt sorrow for our sin, so deeply that we never want to return to it …

“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 7:10.

Do you sometimes feel “sorry” for your sin when the Holy Spirit convicts you strongly? Or have you experienced a sorrow so deep that it has led to true repentance and embracing the grace of God?

Scotty