Issue 6 - Day 2

2 Corinthians 7

2 Corinthians 7:9-10

9. Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
10. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

Have you ever been sad? Has someone's words ever got you down? What about criticism, how do you handle it? One of the hardest things is to accept criticism and change as a result. In this case the people of Corinth hear the words of Paul and in part were outraged, how dare he say these things about us! Then they realised the problem was not Paul, but in themselves. They needed to change.

To give a shortened picture the cycle of challenge to change goes, denial, anger, and then if we are not blind to the problem, perspective, acceptance and action. The effect of tragedy on the other hand goes, denial, anger, grief and can often stop there, moving on eventually to numbed acceptance. The result of sorrow is that part of you dies. The result of Godly sorrow is that part of you grows. Even in tragedy we can take the challenge cycle and gain from the experience if we let God show us the way. It is all in how you react to a call to change.

When the potato first came to Europe it was thought to be poisonous, and was even preached against in churches! When famine came those who embraced that change lived when others died. Are there challenges in your life where you should accept and change, as people accepted the potato? If there are not then you have not been listening to God, for he always challenges us, as none are perfect. Ask God to reveal to you what needs to change, then act.