Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: what diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
2 Corinthians 7:9-11 NKJV
We are convicted by the Holy Spirit when we have done wrong, this is what Paul is talking about when he refers to godly sorrow. This type of conviction makes us sorrowful that we have grieved God by committing sins. Our sin grieves the Holy Spirit. This brings conviction for those of us who are in Christ.
If we are truly saved, we are convicted, this brings sorrow and sorrow brings repentance. We are sorry we did what we did, and we seek God’s forgiveness. We are told in 1 John 1:9 if we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
When we think about conviction we may think about terms like, “convicted felon” or a court conviction where a defendant is found guilty of a crime and punished.
When Christians are convicted it means they know they are doing or have done wrong. They know they have committed sin and are sorry for what they have done. When we are convicted by the Holy Spirit, however, it’s much easier to get that verdict overturned. God will forgive our sins and cleanse us of our unrighteousness if we will simply confess our sins and repent.
When we repent, we do so because we are sorry, and we don’t want to continue in our life of sin. We want to honor God and bring Him glory and praise in all we do.
When the Holy Spirit convicts the true believer, it brings about godly sorrow. We are sorrowful because we know our disobedience grieves the Holy Spirit. We want to repent, we are truly sorry, not just sorry we got caught. It’s when we want to make things right with God. We want His forgiveness, and we want to do the best we can to live in way that pleases Him.
In the criminal justice system, we know it’s possible for an innocent person to be convicted. With God, innocent people are never convicted. Only guilty people are convicted. If you are feeling convicted, you already know you are guilty. Turn to God, repent, and trust in Him to strengthen you against future temptation.
The easiest way to not be convicted is to not do wrong. Of course, we all know this is easier said than done. Romans 3:23 says we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. If we are truly saved, we don’t want to sin, but we are human. There will be times we mess up. When this happens, the Holy Spirit will convict us of our wrongdoing, but praise God we can repent and ask forgiveness.
If you are caught in sin and are truly a child of God, the Holy Spirit is going to get you to a point where your sin becomes uncomfortable. You will feel the conviction in your heart. It will grieve you knowing you are grieving the Holy Spirit. Turn to God, confess your sin, ask for His forgiveness and get into a right relationship with Him before it’s too late.
As we draw nearer to the end, it is more important than ever that we stay in a right relationship with our Lord and Savior. Don’t let sin stop that from happening, repent today.
Have a great day!