Whenever we grieve God, we are acting out of His will and our hearts ought to be sorrowful. There should be godly sorrow when we disobey God. When we speak words of anger or cause someone else great harm, there ought to be a sense of remorse. We need to repent and to ask God for forgiveness. We cannot do wrong and feel good about it. God has a way of convicting us when our hearts and minds are not right. When the truth is told, at times all of us find ourselves needing God’s forgiveness. But thanks be unto God, godly sorrow brings about healing.  In 2 Corinthians 7:10, we find these words:

“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.”

Here, Paul writes about the awakening of the heart, soul and mind when we seek God’s forgiveness. We are grief stricken when we go out of the will of God and we become aware of the pain that we bear. Paul is God’s spokesperson and does not define the penalty that occurs when believers sin; but he does feel the need to tell them of the damage they have done to others. He is convinced in his heart that he has a responsibility to speak words of discipline so that they might turn toward God. The grief that the Corinthians felt was not worldly grief, but the kind that God guides and approves. God’s salvation leads to eternal life. We need to take the time today to ask God to cleanse and forgive us so that our relationship with Him will be true and meaningful.