Godly Sorrow vs. Worldly Sorrow - 2 Corinthians 6-8

Godly Sorrow vs. Worldly sorrow - Every person will go through this life and experience some kind of sorrow.  We will lose something, be afflicted by something or someone, and/or be hurt by both those we love and those who despise us.   Sorrow in this life is as inevitable as the air we breath.   However, it should be noted that God draws a sharp distinction between sorrow He brings into our lives and the sorrow that comes from the fact that sin and hardship are in the world.   Note the following two verses our of 2 Corinthians 7:10-11:

"For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter."

Note the difference between the sorrow God brings or allows to come into our lives and the sorrow the world endures as a result of the sin in the world.   God's sorrow is designed to produced "repentance" while sorrow that comes from the world (shame, guilt and despair) produces "death."   I would suggest that the world's sorrow produces "death" in many forms.   It might produce final death, of course.  We know that sin results in death.   But, death along the way takes on many forms.   In many ways "death" from worldly sorrow manifests itself as bitterness.   Those who are in despair from sorrow, who have to context of God's love, will end up with a root of bitterness.  However, those who understand God's Love realize that any circumstances He brings into their lives is there to move us closer to Him.   When we allow Godly sorrow to fill our hearts it will produce a form of repentance that produces Godly fruit in our lives.   God uses sorrow to move us.  The World's sorrow is to crush us.   In the midst of the difficult times of life, when we begin to reach the point of sorrow, remember, that God is using that to produce long lasting fruit in our lives and that fruit is produced by repentance.