From Guilt to Grace: Understanding Godly Sorrow

Over our lives, we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But something changes once you have Christ as Lord of your life, that same sin stings differently and sometimes even though we know God forgives all our sin, forgiving ourselves eludes us. Why is that? Well it's because you can’t trust your feelings, they are of the sinful world and will deceive you and lead you astray from God’s true forgiveness in Christ. Many times when you seek God and ask for His help to forgive yourself, the memory of that sin condemns you and does so falsely. 1 John 1:9 tells us, “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

As believers in Christ, at sometime along our walk with Him, we sin and that sin hurts completely differently. That is where Godly sorrow meets worldly sorrow. These two contrasting ideas are presented by Paul to the church of the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 7:9-10. The Corinthians had received Paul's first letter, and his words convicted them. This conviction caused them pain and sorrow over their sin and Paul was glad. “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.”

Worldly sorrow is fundamentally self centered. It revolves around pain sin causes to oneself rather than the offense and dishonor it is to God. Its sorrow is rooted in self pity, sorrow of getting caught, sorrow over consequences of sin. Many times you can tell the difference because people who experience worldly sorrow are defensive about their sin and attempt to justify it or explain it away. They grieve for themselves, for the embarrassment, their suffering and the pain they're feeling. Worldly sorrow feels so bad. It reduces you to despair and despair leads to death. Take for example, Judas in Matthew 27, he felt no remorse for betraying the son of man, but he could not bear the shame from the world and humiliation of having betrayed Jesus. And rather than bringing that shame to Christ, the only one who could pay for it, Judas sought to atone for his sins by himself, leading to his own death. Worldly sorrow causes you to focus on how terrible a sinner you are leading to spiritual ruin versus how gracious a savior Jesus is.

Godly sorrow leads to repentance, salvation and a transformed life because it focuses on having grieved God through sin rather than the negative consequences of our actions. The first characteristic of Godly sorrow is its focus on God and the grief for having broken his heart and grieved the Holy Spirit. Second, it leads to repentance, it prompts a genuine turn from sin back to God. Third, it results in a changed life, renewed mindset characterised by carefulness, zeal and a longing for righteousness. And Fourth, Godly sorrow provides no regrets. While there is pain, the ultimate outcome is relief and comfort, as it leads to salvation and spiritual life. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 7:11, “See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.”

God intends for Godly sorrow to bring you repentance, salvation and sinners to tears of grief. In contrast to Judas, after Peter denied Christ three times and as soon as you remembered Christ's words, Matthew 26:75 tells us he went off and wept bitterly. Like with Peter, Godly sorrow begins with recognition and confession of sin. Only then do you gain a change of heart. This like when Peter wept, he was mourned over having sinned against the God who loved him. When you understand you have sinned against a glorious God the only proper response is sorrow, a broken spirit and contrite heart. These motivate you to change course and return to God in faithfulness.

In the Old Testament, David wrote about his Godly sorrow through his Psalms, in particular Psalm 51. As I found myself looking through Psalms, Psalm 51 I did so long ago, I had forgotten, but right there in the margins of the Bible, laid the groundwork for Godly sorrow that I didn't even remember I had studied. My notes began with the characteristics of God I found in Psalm 51…God was merciful, compassionate, forgiving, loving, a teacher, He is righteous and an ultimate judge. Next came how I thought David must have felt as he wrote the Psalm… Guilty, remorseful, full of sin, ashamed, afraid, and broken. I saw myself in David, and it hurt. Then the hardest part of all, how to apply this to my life. My bullet points read, ask for forgiveness. Recognize your sin. Confess your sin. Continue to be faithful and seek God's wisdom. Seek God to restore your spirit and sustain you. Praise God in the pain. And a simple reminder that God values our broken spirit and heart like Jesus said in Matthew 5:4, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

When you experience genuine, Godly sorrow, repentance is near and in repentance bears the fruits of the spirit. Marked by eagerness to change course, to restore the broken relationship and eager to deal with the sin biblically. God places within you a desire to clear your name from the stigma of sin, a yearning to have a reputation for righteousness rather than iniquity.

To be honest because like the apostle Paul said in Romans 7:15, “ I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not, but what I hate to do I do.” I think that realization is a huge part of our sanctification as believers…not by our will, but His, For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out alone. God knows not if we will sin, but when we will. And when we do our sanctification flows through the Godly sorrow He gives us.

Today, let go of the sin that grieves your heart. Forgive yourself because God has already forgiven you. And for those who think, 'But how? I still feel guilty,' here is how: We forgive ourselves by actively agreeing with God. When the memory of that sin condemns you, you must agree with God's truth instead. You say, 'Yes, that was a sin. But Your Word says that if I confess my sins, You are faithful and just to forgive me and to purify me from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). You have forgiven it. You have purified me. Therefore, I release this guilt and I agree with Your verdict over my life, which is forgiven. Let Godly sorrow produce in you the fruits of the spirit that bear His name.

If the concepts of Godly sorrow and worldly sorrow resonated with you, I created a free resource to help you walk this out. Download the "Godly Sorrow Guide" here to continue your journey from guilt to grace.