two kinds of sorrow

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

2 Corinthians 7:10

There are two types of regretful sorrow translated but the word “grief” in the ESV in this verse. They come from different sources, they are characterized by different motivations, and most importantly, they produce very different results.

The first grief is described as godly grief. It is sourced in a holy desire to be right with the Lord. It is motivated by genuine repentance, knowing remorse at God’s disapproval of sin with a strong resolve to turn from sin, reverse behavior, and live to please God. This grief leads to forgiveness and life. It is blessed by God with forgiving grace to the repentant person.

The second grief described is worldly grief. It is sourced in human nature alone and is a type of remorse brought on by losing the world’s approval. It is motivated by pride and selfish desire to regain the approval of this world in some way. It does not repent of sin, but instead is usually motivated by sins such as envy, coveting, or even revenge to regain the approval of this world. It does not seek forgiveness, just acclaim. And this form of grief leads to death.

So anytime my heart struggles with grieving at a perceived loss, it does me good to examine my sorrow by these two criteria. Many times I have confused worldly grief with true repentance. But honest godly sorrow will be able to pinpoint and confess my sin, have strong measures of confession and repentance, and will be prompted by obedience to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit’s leading in my life. By faith godly sorrow trusts the gospel, not my own efforts to change. Anything less than this will be worldly grief and must be repented of as well. The good news is that even when I repent of this wrong kind of false grief, God, through Christ will lead me through godly sorrow, to know joy and eternal life!