The Negatives Can Become Positives

 

 

 “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:10).

 

There is a godly type of sorrow and a worldly type of sorrow. The kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There is no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.

 

We live in a world that tells us that negative emotions are detrimental to our well-being. God gave us the capacity for these negative emotions, and there is an appropriate use of them. 

 

“Sorrow is better than laughter,” Ecclesiastes 7:3 reads, “for by a sad countenance the heart is made better.”

 

Sin ought to make us feel bad. We ought to experience sorrow over our failures. However, this sorrow should lead to repentance. When forgiveness is received, we should cast our sorrow upon the Lord because “He has born our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4).

 

The night before His crucifixion, Jesus told the disciples that without question one of them would deny him. “And they were exceedingly sorrowful,” Mark 26:22 reads. “Lord, is it I?” each one of them asked. If their “exceeding” sorrow had led them to repentance, perhaps they wouldn’t have denied the Lord. Peter’s sorrow after his denial of Jesus changed him. He certainly never regretted the tears he cried.

 

Those who experience sorrow and don’t turn to God grieve over their situations. They carry an unbearable load. And Jesus is there just waiting for them to turn to Him and let Him carry their griefs and sorrows.

 

Those who have been reborn spiritually in Jesus Christ may have the desire to live sinless but don’t consistently walk in the Spirit and deny the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). Christians should have godly sorrow, but once they repent they don’t need to carry the negative feelings of guilt and shame. They should appropriate the forgiveness that is already theirs in Jesus.

 

Repentance means to literally have another mind. It is simply a change of mind that leads to a corresponding action. Godly sorrow that produces repentance leaves us with no regrets. The positive change that godly sorrow brings changes our attitude toward the things in our lives that led us to sorrow. 

 

The negatives in your life can become positives through Jesus Christ.

 

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