All of us have regrets in life. And sometimes as we look at the consequences of our sins and failures, our guilt threatens to crush us.
Certainly our enemy Satan would love to see that.
But what does God want?
In a lot of ways, Paul mirrored the heart of our Father.
Paul wrote a letter to the Corinthians confronting them with their sin. And that letter caused them much guilt and grieving. But what does Paul say about that?
I now rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance. For you were grieved as God willed, so that you didn’t experience any loss from us. (2 Corinthians 7:9)
Sometimes when people wrong us, we want them to suffer. We are happy that they are being crushed by their grief. Sometimes, we even want them to be destroyed by their grief.
But Paul didn’t want that for the Corinthians. He didn’t want them to suffer any loss. Rather, he wanted them to repent.
That’s what our Father wants.
When we sin, the consequences can be painful. And the guilt can be crushing.
But God doesn’t want to crush us. He wants us to repent. And with that repentance comes not death, but healing.
Paul says,
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly grief produces death. (10)
Some of you may be feeling crushed by guilt right now. It may seem that there can be no healing, that there can be no forgiveness.
But let me tell you now: There is forgiveness for you. And there can be healing.
All you need to do is repent. Admit your wrong. Ask God for forgiveness. And he will forgive.
“Come, let’s settle this,” says the Lord.
“Though your sins are scarlet,
they will be as white as snow;
though they are crimson red,
they will be like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 