"Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." 2 Cor 7:10
Repentance is not to be mistaken for simple sorrow for making mistakes, which is a usually a reflex action caused by self-disgust.
Most of us will react at and/or for the moment when we discover that we have made a mistake. Some may feel the pain of failing oneself, others may simply be disgusted that they had not live up to their own expectation. The best one could do is to resolve not to make that mistake again. Some succeed, most don't. This is not good enough.
Repentance comes only with the conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit (John 16:8-11). When we are stirred and convicted by the Holy Spirit, we will realized that our sins are against God and no one feels more hurt than God does because He loves us. It will cause us to struggle between the godly values and the world's values. The Holy Spirit creates this struggle so that we can truly come to a point of humbly declaring, "God I have sinned against You, forgive me..."(Psalm 51:4). That will be the beginning of the formation of a "more like Jesus" life in His children.
Only repentance, being a result of godly sorrow, changes life. And for this reason, repentance is the foundation of the Christian faith.
Let the Holy Spirit lead us to a deeper relationship with Him so that we can become more like Jesus!
God bless.
Steven
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