Godly vs. worldly grief. This verse contrasts the worldview of a believer with the one who doesn’t believe. Those who follow Jesus sense a conviction of sin in their souls and reach out to God to confess sin and repent. This response grants freedom and forgiveness. Remorse of wrongdoing can lead us to apologize or as this verse remind us it can lead in another direction as well.
Worldly grief over wrongdoing can lead to so many things like sorrow and even despair. These are meant to hand over to God but if we choose not to this leads to the ultimate payment for sin: death and separation from God. Someone once told me it’s this kind of grief that led them to anger and sadness that led to an addiction. Others might tell you that traumas in their lives led to this same thing.
These are two opposing ways to deal with our stuff. We can hand it to God and confess or keep it to ourselves and it will fester in our consciences and cripple us. We are human. We all sin. I’ve learned our culture teaches us to cover up and at any cost protect ourselves from being caught or exposed. The strongest person admits wrong, apologizes, mends the relationship and presses on. The weak lie, blame and try to cover their butt. This leads to isolation, loneliness and broken relationships. Do we think God can’t see?
God is omnipresent and sees it all. What we do with our sin has the capacity to determine our future. Confession leads to salvation and eternal life. I can leave it behind and heal. Worldly grief and regrets are carried with me and are so heavy they crush me. It will steer me in directions that will destroy my life.
On a side note, our TV shows and movies seem to glorify covering up sin. We are fascinated by the sins of others watching Live PD and Dateline featuring heinous crimes. The more awful the crime the more fascinating. Most movies have a betrayer, a sinful one. Yes, this too is life too sometimes. My coworker just yesterday said, “Garbage in, garbage out.”
Jeni Martin Johnson 
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