Monday July 4, 2011

Read 2 Corinthians 7:8-13

Anyone can bung on a ‘sorry’. Anyone can put on a sad face and pretend to be sorry for what’s happened. You see this all the time. A criminal stands before a judge and expresses his remorse for his crimes. A few weeks later he’s arrested for a similar crime. Was he remorseful? I doubt it. A child stands before her teacher and sadly cries, ‘Sorry Miss. I won’t do it again.’ A few moments later she has all but forgotten her promise and is again teasing another student. Was that genuine sorrow? I doubt it.

The Corinthians were involved in some pretty sinful things, including rejecting the Apostle Paul because his speaking ‘amounted to nothing.’ He was a whimp in their presence but was forceful in his letters. He sent them a painful letter, one that would have caused a loud and painful ‘ouch!!’ from the congregation. It even hurt Paul to write it. Yet it had the intended result - they repented.

Genuine repentance results from godly sorrow. We are genuinely struck by God as to the sinfulness of what we have done or said or thought and we take action to never allow it to happen again. Genuine sorrow means being ready and willing to change for the better at all costs.  Often when we say ‘sorry’ what we mean is, ‘Sorry I got caught’ or ‘Sorry it hurt you’ but we have no intention of

changing. Godly sorrow brings repentance that is ready and willing to change. Until we have godly sorrow for our sins and habits that displease God, we will never change. You can ask God to grant you such sorrow and repentance for the things in your life you know that displease God. You don’t have to be a slave to them any longer.

Prayer:

V Prayer for the mums who come and the children, that they are encouraged and are shown God’s love through the leaders and MOPPET carers.

V Pray for the leader of and MOPPET carers that they will seek out opportunities to reach out to the mums and children who attend MOPS.