A broken and a contrite heart.
Laughter turned to mourning.
Godly sorrow.
There is no repentance in your life if these things aren’t happening in your heart.
EXPERIENCING WORLDLY SORROW
It’s possible to have sorrow for sin that doesn’t please God. There is a type of brokenness that won’t lead to repentance. Paul called it “worldly sorrow” and he said that it leads to death (2 Corinthians 7:10).
In my own experience, I went years wallowing in worldly sorrow over my sin. I hated it, I wanted to be rid of it, I cried out for deliverance from it, and then I went straight back to it, continuing in my lifestyle of spiritual death that my sin brought to me.
I experienced sorrow for sin, but the thing is that I never asked myself, “Why am I sorrowful?” If I would have asked this question, I would have learned that I was sorrowful for my own sake. I was sorrowful because my sin was keeping me from being happy. My sin was pressing on my life a burden that kept me from enjoying myself. My sorrow for sin was rooted in my love for myself.
CULTIVATING GODLY SORROW
Godly sorrow sees our sin not for how it affects us, but for how it affects God. Godly sorrow is the grief that results from seeing how our sin grieves the heart of God.
How do we cultivate this type of sorrow? Only by having our love for God increase and our love of self decrease.
How do we cultivate a deeper love for God? Only by gazing into God’s perfect love for us, demonstrated through the willing sacrifice of Jesus Christ, crucified as our substitute for sins.
The heart of repentance is godly sorrow; the root of godly sorrow is love for God; and the source of love for God is the love of God for us in the Gospel.
Do not wallow in worldly sorrow any longer, but rather direct your soul’s gaze on Christ and Him crucified, until there is a godly sorrow for sin in your heart that leads to repentance.