A Critical Difference

"A man that does not know how to be angry
does not know how to be good.
Now and then a man should be shaken to the core with indignation over things evil."
Henry Ward Beecher








A Critical Difference

What is the difference between the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the accusations of the enemy? The Apostle Paul made a clear distinction between the two.

“Yet I am glad now, not because you were pained,
but because you were pained into repentance
[and so turned back to God];
for you felt a grief such as God meant you to feel,
so that in nothing you might suffer loss through us
or harm for what we did.
For godly grief and the pain God is permitted to direct,
produce a repentance that leads and contributes to salvation
and deliverance from evil, and it never brings regret;
but worldly grief
(the hopeless sorrow that is characteristic of the pagan world)
is deadly [breeding and ending in death].”
2 Corinthians 7:9-10 Amplified Bible

For many years I saw this demonstrated repeatedly
by the students I taught.
There were some students,
who after making a mistake or misbehaving,
were genuinely sorry for their actions.
Their sorrow resulted in their learning what not to do,
so they wouldn’t repeat the offense again.
They were sorry for their actions,
and genuinely sorry for the offense it produced.
Other students, (unfortunately in the majority of cases),
when their misdeed was discovered they were also sorry.
They were sorry they got caught.
They had no intention of changing their behavior,
other than to be more calculating
about masking their efforts the next time
they engaged in that same behavior.

Both the worldly system and the conviction of the Holy Spirit
produce a feeling of sorrow.
Godly sorrow, always results in repentance
(the turning around – changing of behavior).

The sorrow ressulting from satan’s accusation or worldly thinking
always leads to death nad separation from God and man.


Godly sorrow brings repentance
that leads to salvation and leaves no regret,
but worldly sorrow brings death.
2 Corinthians 7:10 NIV

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