Two Sorrows

Two sorrows are at work in the world. One, the sorrow of the world, leads to death. The other, godly sorrow, leads to repentance without regrets. Godly sorrow cries with David, "Against You and You only have I sinned and done this evil in Your sight." It is a sorrow that trembles at the impact one's sin has on the heart of God--the disappointment His love endures. Such sorrow leads first to a turning away from the thoughts and attitudes that brought sin and its consequences into my life. Then, it rests in the confidence that His forgiveness is complete and eternal--that the consequences of my sin rest in the hands of the God who turns failure and loss into victory and great gain. He is the God who promises that He will remove my sin as far away as the East is from the West--that they are buried in the deepest sea, nailed once for all on the cross of redemption. He will do good. He will turn evil into good. He will glorify Himself. Deliverance is provided. Promised.
The sorrow of the world is self-pity. It is the idolatry of shame for shame's focus is not on the sin, but on how the sin impacts others' opinion of me and my opinion of myself. It leads to blaming others for my consequences--"the snake made me do it;" that woman You gave me made me do it." Ironically, and tragically, it can lead to a self-adulation that glories in the shame. And it leads to death, a living death first of all--a loss of joy, a loss of relationships, a loss of hopefulness, an inablity to rest in the cleansing of forgiveness and to live in the freedom of His deliverance.
It's really a choice between being God focused or self-focused. One leads to cleansing, freedom, joy, and confidence in the forgivenss and love of God. One leads to shame, slavery, emptiness, and hopelessness. One is the basis of the abundant life. One is the foundation of the empty life, of self-pity and self-deception--the sorrow that leads to death. Godly sorrow believes that breaking God's heart is the true tragedy. Worldly sorrow believes that God's love should protect me from a broken-heart. Godly sorrow turns my broken-heart into a blessing. Worldly sorrow turns my broken-heart into a heart of stone incapable of accepting love from--and giving love to--others. Life or death. The choice is yours in the midst of your sorrows.