Go to God with Your Grief
How to Find Forgiveness and Joy in Jesus
Aaron Lee | December 31, 2023 | FCBCW Children’s Worship | 2 Corinthians 7:10
Introduction
Does God want us to feel sad about our sin, OR does he want us to just be happy and move on? At the end of the year, we get to reflect on our lives. I find myself to be sad about my sin. The Bible talks about grief. Grief is a sadness about how things have gone wrong, but it carries the meaning of deep sorrow and disturbance. Grief carries the meaning of unease. Does God want us to be sad about our sin, OR does he want us to just be happy and move on? The Bible says there are two types of grief:
10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly grief produces death. (2 Corinthians 7:10)
Let’s look at the two types of grief together:
1. Godly grief
10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly grief produces death. (2 Corinthians 7:10)
The first type of grief is godly grief. Godly grief is the good type of grief. Godly grief means that there is a type of grief where God is in the picture. It’s a holy grief that acknowledges you need to be helped by God. When you have godly grief, you go to God for help. And when you go to God with your grief, it produces repentance. It means that you say sorry to God for your sin. It leads to salvation, because you know you can’t save yourself – but you need Jesus to save you. And when you have this type of godly grief, you have no regrets. You have no regrets because, ultimately, you rest in God. You’re still sorry for your sin, but you find your shelter in the Savior.
There is a story in the Bible about someone who did something very wrong. David was the King of Israel. He abused his power by taking another man’s wife and then sending that man to die in a war. A man named Nathan told David that he was wrong, and David had godly grief. We know he had godly grief because he said that he sinned against God. He felt sorry for his sins and he repented.
Application
So, will you use godly grief to repent from your sins? Repentance means to turn away. It means to go in the reverse direction. When you truly repent from your sin, you are turning towards Jesus. I’ve said sorry many times to my wife Jess, sometimes about making jokes. Because even if I am just joking, sometimes it can still be mean and hurt her. She has been very kind and forgiving for the ways I’ve sinned against her. But if I am to truly repent, I will stop doing all of the wrong things. I will stop making jokes. I’m not perfect, but I would hope that I am heading in the right direction.
You can learn to repent from your sins, too. When you do something wrong, don’t just say sorry. See how you can stop from doing it again, and ask the Holy Spirit to help you. If you find yourself getting angry or mad with someone in a sinful way, see to it that you start showing love to that person. If you find yourself saying bad words or saying mean things, see to it that you use your words to be kind and encourage others. Don’t just say sorry for your sin, but turn away from it and go towards Jesus.
2. Worldly grief
10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly grief produces death. (2 Corinthians 7:10)
The second type of grief is worldly grief. Worldly grief is the wrong type of grief – you don’t want to have this type of grief. Worldly grief does not put God in the picture. Worldly grief looks everywhere else for help instead of going to God. Worldly grief says that you still feel sad over your sin, but you try to make yourself feel better by the things in this world. Worldly grief says that you’ll try to make yourself happy with more toys, more clothes, more friends, or more activities. Worldly grief also looks at yourself, and says that you can make yourself feel better. You say that you’ll work harder, try better, or take drastic measures to change — but without God’s help. Worldly grief says that God cannot save you from your sins. You might feel better for a little bit, but this type of worldly grief will ultimately lead to death.
There’s a story in the Bible about someone who did something very wrong. Judas was one of Jesus’ disciples. He did a very bad sin. He betrayed Jesus, and this is what caused Jesus’ to be arrested and eventually crucified. The Bible says that Judas was sad over his sin. He grieved. But instead of going to God for forgiveness, he decided to take things into his own hands. He ended up taking his own life. So even though he was sad, he did not go to God, and he died both physically and spiritually in his sins.
Application
So, will you go to God with your grief? This application is for all of us, because we are all tempted to turn to the world. It really takes attention and focus to turn towards God. Because of our sin, our hearts don’t always automatically go to God. We get distracted. Let me go back to talking about my sin of making mean jokes. If I start feeling bad, I should go to God and Jess to say sorry and repent. But instead of doing that, sometimes I’ll occupy myself with other things. I’ll distract myself on my phone, watching YouTube or doing work. I need to prioritize turning to God instead of getting distracted.
You can learn to go to God with your grief. You can say that instead of getting distracted with YouTube or homework, you’ll look to God’s Word and come to him in prayer. You can resolve to make amends, make things right, make things better as soon as possible. You can determine not to go to bed angry with others. The world cannot give you true peace, joy, or life. The world will ultimately give you death. Go to God with your grief. When you feel sorry for your sin, take it to Jesus.
Gospel
I want to zoom out and give us the big picture. I’ve been focusing a lot on feeling sad or sorry, but you need to know that feeling sad or sorry is not enough. Actually, even us saying sorry is not enough for forgiveness with God. God says that there actually needs to be punishment for our sins. Jesus is the Son of God, he lived a perfect life, and he died on the cross. He came back to life again proving that he defeated sin, death, and Satan. If you believe this, then Jesus took the punishment for your sins. You can still feel sad and sorry but you’ll know that your sins are forgiven because of Jesus’ work on the cross. You will have eternal life with God, here on earth and as you walk with him, following him into heaven.
Big Idea
Go to God with your grief — your sin and sorrows — and find forgiveness and joy in Jesus.
Conclusion
Have you ever felt sad about your sin? Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret. This is the type of sadness God wants us to experience. Not all sadness is bad. Sadness can be beneficial. There is no regret for this type of sadness. There is no regret for godly grief. After studying this passage, I would say that God does want us to feel sad about our sin, AND we can still be happy and move on. I think this is a fitting message for the new year. Go to God with your grief — your sin and sorrows — and find forgiveness and joy in Jesus.