"Sorry"

"For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." 2 Corinthians 7:10

I have to admit that I missed it this morning. I rolled back over in bed and fell back asleep. What's so bad about that? The Lord woke me up a little earlier to spend some extra time with Him before my day got started. I knew it was Him and I didn't get on up. I really regret that I didn't because it's getting late in the morning, I have several things already wanting my time, I have some responsibilities that must be attended to but I still need to have that extra time with the Lord. Other than confession being good for the soul, I told you all this because when I told the Lord I was sorry, He spoke back and said, "It's not about being sorry, it's about being repentant".

Being sorry and repentance are not the same thing. Sorry is more of an "emotional" thing and repentance is a complete change of mind. Sorry often involves regrets- regrets over something that you lost, something that you forfeited, something that you missed out on. Sorry also more often responds to the consequences. It's like the little child who gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar after his mother told him he could not have the cookie. He is sorry because he got caught. He is sorry because he doesn't want to face the punishment and is hoping to avoid it. But when mother turns her back he's in the cookie jar again- he wasn't repentant.

Repentance involves a change of mind. When the Lord spoke that to me this morning, He meant that He did not want me to just be sorry because of what I missed, but He wants me to have a totally different outlook on it. He wants me to change my way of thinking and get up just because He said to get up. Repentance motivates me to do the right thing for the right reason. My earthly sorrow does not lead to repentance- how I look at the situation- but godly sorrow does- how does God look at the situation.

Have a great day. It's not about being sorry, it's about repentance.