Today’s reading is 2 Corinthians 7.
Do you know the hardest part about repenting or leading someone to repentance? It’s what has to happen before repentance. Grief. Sorrow. Mourning. Sadness. We cannot just manufacture repentance. Repentance comes only when someone is truly sorry for how they have behaved. This is the problem we often have to face. Many people when they hear about heaven and hell and have some faith in them will sign on the dotted line of Christianity. But some are simply not sorry about how they have lived and behaved. These will often live in hypocrisy, hanging on to behaviors they love while trying to get enough “church” in to make up for it. That is simply not discipleship. Sin, all sin, is a slap in the face to God and a destruction of our relationship with Him. Repentance will not come until we have that kind of honesty about our sin and are moved to sorrow over it. Then repentance comes. I am not saying the truly penitent never fall again. I’m just pointing out where our path to Jesus and salvation begins. And it is a hard place to begin because we avoid sorrow at all costs. But without going through the sorrow, we will not go through the repentance. And without leading others through sorrow, we will not be able to lead them to repentance either. This explains why so many fight against it so hard. It also explains why we must keep trying. People need godly sorrow because it leads to repentance and that leads to salvation.
Tomorrow’s reading is 2 Corinthians 8.
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