2 Cor. 7:10 "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death."
Paul is referring to his earlier letter in which he gave the Corinthians some strong warnings and instructions regarding some instances of sin taking place in the church. He does not apologize for his words and tells them any sorrow they experienced only served to help them repent and change their ways. Paul's point is that Godly sorrow is a good thing-worldly sorrow only brings more sorrow and ultimately death.
I get sorrowful from time to time. I think about pain in the world-war, poverty, crime, and I think about pain in my life-regrets, sin, mistakes, failures-things I'm bad at. How often does my sorrow lead to repentance and salvation though? Usually I am left with regret. In fact, I just wrote that two sentences ago! Sorrow is just sorrow for sorrow's sake unless we are sorrowful in a godly way which leads to repentance and salvation.
Dear Lord, help me to use my sorrow for a purpose. Help me to repent and turn towards you. Amen.
