2 Corinthians 7:8-11 

⁸Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— ⁹yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. ¹⁰Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. ¹¹See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

Headlines

         When headline articles are cheerful, it should be great news. Most often, headlines articles are sad news. News about earthquake, tornado, flood, infectious virus, war, mass shooting or road accidents have victims. Regrets in life can be exposed when loved ones die. So, express care and kindness before your loved ones leave this world, and you won’t regret it!

         Someone planned to share the good news of salvation to his relative. Prayerfully, he waited for few weeks. But his relative died before he can tell him the gospel of Christ. He regretted it. Someone said, “I do not regret any mistake I made. I would regret it if I did not even attempt to do my best.”

         Certainly, anyone can commit mistake. Learn from your mistake, they say. We can do our best to avoid mistake. Mistake may negatively affect anyone. But positively, mistake can be essential but tough instrument of learning process. Should we pray that mistake challenges us productively?

         But what can we learn, if we avoid mistakes just by doing nothing? Actually, doing nothing is sinful. It declares in James 4:17, ¹⁷If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

         We pray that God fills our mind with good things to do, like praying. We regularly pray for loved ones and friends that they may productively behave. We have no control of their behavior, but we can pray for their wellbeing. Anyone can be confused and follow the wickedness of their heart. But if we prayed for the welfare of loved ones, we’ve got no regret.

         There are laws about rights of children. We can search them online. Have you heard any law about parent’s rights? Parents can be confused on how they attempt parenting style toward their children. Parents: What can we do? We read children’s right and smartly modify on parenting approach.

         Parenting is opportunity to store up treasures in heaven. Don’t control children. Prayerfully express your love for them. Teach proper behaviors that benefit them over time. It is best to teach them about Christ. How they respond to the Lord is beyond our control. We can peacefully rejoice, if they heard gospel of salvation in Christ. We avoid regrettable sorrow later on.

1.  Sorrow

                        ⁸Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while—^9ayet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance.

         Apostle Paul never regretted that his rebuke caused sorrow for the Corinthians to repent. In the first century, his letters were circulated among churches outside Corinth. And next generation churches read them also.

         The problems in Corinthian church at that time had been well-known to other churches. So, when the Corinthians travelled to other cities and attended church, there could have been some kind of embarrassment, if ever they introduced themselves as members of the Corinthian church.

 Attend

         Has anyone ever asked you if you were a Christian and which church you attend to? Do you readily introduce yourself to strangers as Christian and member of The Maples Evangelical Church? Do you gladly tell others that you believe in Jesus Christ and you faithfully serve him in his church?

         Someone assumed I’m Spanish because of my name. He gladly said that his child loves to learn Spanish. He also mentioned that he is Christian. I asked him, “Which church do you attend to. And what’s the name of your pastor?” He did not readily remember the name of the church he attends to and the name of the pastor. Possibly, he is not very active church attendee.

         Let’s reflect what Christ declares in Luke 9:23-26, ²³Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. ²⁴For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. ²⁵What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? ²⁶Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

         Are you satisfied that you believe in Christ? We should aim to be his disciples. Disciples of Christ are enthusiastic to follow his words. And we have to be prayerful. Strange animosity can happen anytime anywhere. Aggressive groups are hostile to Christians. They provoke us to commit mistakes. Maybe, they try to test us, if we really practice loving enemies.

         Prayerfully remember to practice all the time what Christ declared in Matthew 5:44-48, ⁴⁴Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? ⁴⁷And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? ⁴⁸Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

         Tax collectors are pictured as corrupt officials, and they love their fellow corrupt officials. Pagans are not religious, and they greet their fellow pagans. Christ requires us to love our enemies. He wants us to do more than what others do and to be perfect like our heavenly Father. Why?

         When the Lord took all our sins and crucified them with Christ, we become perfectly flawless before God. By faith we believe in Christ. And to prove that Christ cleansed us to be perfect, we can now love our enemies.

         We pray that God regenerate them. May God inspires us to tell them the good news of salvation in Christ. God wants them to be saved also.

2.  Save

            ^9bFor you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. ¹⁰Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 

         Anyone controlled by sinful nature needs Christ to be saved from the penalty of sin and to be freed from the control of sinful nature. Before I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I followed sinful instincts. But after I accepted and let Christ as Lord of my life, he inspires me to quit any sinful behavior and enthusiastically follow his divine plan for me instead.

         God causes sorrow, and we repented of our sins, and he saved us from the punishment of sin. He saved us from the pressure and influence of sin also. And when Christ returns, he will save us from the presence of sin.

         Christ won’t force us to believe and follow him. He comes only in our heart to reign after we repent of our sins. That’s right! Repentance prepares the way for the Lord to come into our life. Practically, repentance proves our willingness to be freed from sin and become slave to righteousness.

         It announced in Mark 1:1-4, ¹The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, ²as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”— ³“a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” ⁴And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

         God has designed repentance as pre-requisite or requirement for our salvation. Certainly, we need the gift of faith from God to admit we’re sinful. When by faith we repent of our sins, spiritual regeneration has begun. And we admit our need for Christ to save us from the punishment of sin. He also saves us from the pressure of sin and we would rather follow his righteous path that God has decreed, and we avoid committing sin again and again.

         Together, let’s learn from what happened in Mark 9:20-24, ²⁰When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. ²¹Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. ²²“It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” ²³“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

         The father admitted that unbelief prevailed in him. It implied that he had no idea what Jesus can do when he said, “If you can do anything.” Jesus said, “Everything is possible for one who believes.” How should we interpret that? We claim that there’s nothing impossible for God to do.

         Now, test our knowledge about God. How do we explain what Jesus said in Luke 18:27? ²⁷What is impossible with man is possible with God.

         Whenever it’s impossible for us to solve our problems, Christ invited us to seek his help. What difficult problem has troubled you lately? When we just worry about problems instead of seeking help from God, it implies unbelief to him. Christ offers the best solution for our problems. We should pray and ask God to help us overcome our unbelief like the boy’s father.

         Seriously consider what Christ advised in Luke 12:22-26, ²²I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. ²³For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. ²⁴Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! ²⁵Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? ²⁶Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

         Anyone can worry about anything. Worry implies no initiative to seek God’s help. Don’t solve problems independently. Be dependent on Christ to your practice faith in him. And the Holy Spirit produces joyful peace despite no clear idea what God may do. By faith we trust Christ fills us with praise and thankfulness when eventually, we see solutions to our problems.

3.  See

            ¹¹See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

         The Corinthians had problems. They were confused when different preachers introduced diverse interpretations of the Scripture. Apostle Paul addressed their confusion in his letter to them, and other churches heard about it. Instead of hostility toward Paul in his team, God produced godly sorrow for the Corinthians to repent after his tough rebuke and reproach.

 Asian Movie

         A movie featured a man who was deceived by his wife. He assumed that the child of his wife was their child. Before their marriage, his wife got pregnant by another man. His mother told him, “Your wife admitted to me that you are not the father of her son.” But the man refused to believe his mother. He preferred to think that his mother was just lying about his wife.

         Anyone can be deceived. They believe what they prefer to believe. The church in Corinth paid attention to when Apostle Paul rebuked them. And God caused them to be sorrowful and repented of their mistakes. Pray and discern how you may adhere to Christ’s admonition to you. Together, let us reflect on Ephesians 4:11-13, ¹¹Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹²to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

         We participate in the work of service or in church ministry to spiritually mature until we reach unity in faith and in the knowledge of Christ. It is our practice of our knowledge of God that we practically apply what we learn.

         Join the building maintenance and learn to maintain your own home better. Help in the kid’s or youth ministry and learn to teach kids or youth. Join the worship team and you might discover your musical talent.

         Learn from Exodus 35:30-32, ³⁰The Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, ³¹and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills ³² to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze.

         When God commands, he provides means to accomplish them. God gave Bezalel all kinds of skills to make all artistic designs in the Tabernacle. Have you explored the skill and talent the Holy Spirit had given you? Pray to be filled with Spirit of God, and you will enthusiastically serve him in the ministry he prefers for you. If you discover and practice the skill and talent that the Lord gave you, you’ll praise and thank God and have no regret!

><))’> ><))’> tmec\ltsii\2026 <‘((>< <‘((><