Hasten to follow Christ

Sorrow for God and worldly sorrow

1946

For sorrow according to God worketh unrepentant repentance unto salvation, but sorrow worketh death in the world" (2 Corinthians 7:10). These are the deep, profound words of the Holy Apostle Paul from his Second Epistle to the Corinthians. It is necessary to delve into these words: what is sorrow according to God, and what is worldly sorrow?

Sorrow for God's sake is the mood with which all the saints lived, it is, first of all, a heavy, heavy sorrow for their own sins. It is also a continuous sorrow for what we see in the world: that wicked people, who do not believe in Christ, live as Satan teaches them to live; they do not even want to know the way of Christ. Sorrow for God is sorrow for that untruth, about theft, murder, debauchery, lies – terrible lies, all-pervading lies, among which people of all claims have lived and are living. Sorrow for God is sorrow for the fate of our children, our youth, who know nothing about God, who live without God.

This sorrow, the sorrow that we too often deviate from the path of God, the sorrow that the whole world is following a path far from Christ, "unrepentant repentance worketh unto salvation." It gives rise to constant, unchanging repentance, gives rise to a sense of guilt before God, our own guilt and the guilt of those unfortunate impious people who surround us. This sorrow, this sorrow, these tears for ourselves, for our loved ones, lead us to repentance.

And we live in this holy and salvific feeling of repentance, we live in the midst of prayer for ourselves, for our own unworthiness, for our neighbors and for those far away, for all the unfortunate who do not know Christ. "Repentance without repentance worketh unto salvation." Our spirit is built up by the power of prayer of repentance, prayer of tears, prayer for all.

"And death maketh sorrow in the world." What is worldly sorrow? This is the sorrow of those who set as the goal of life only the pleasures of this world, only their own well-being in this earthly life, who do not want to know about the path of salvation, who know nothing about the spiritual life, who do not pray, do not believe in anything, but believe only in the golden calf, in wealth, which gives them bliss and well-being in this life.

And such people are often, often overtaken by sorrow. Their assumptions aimed at ensuring their earthly well-being collapse like houses of cards. It can be worse; It also happens that in search of well-being, these unfortunates embark on the path of crime and a complete catastrophe befalls them. Their untruth and crime are revealed, it is revealed that for their own womb they have trampled on the welfare of their neighbors, trampled on the interests of the state, and a terrible punishment befalls them: they end up in prison, in exile, in exile.

But this is only half the trouble. It is not yet scary to go to prison, to exile. It is terrible that eternal death, eternal perdition, awaits them. No, that is why it is said that worldly sorrow, sorrow for the good things of the world, makes death. Be afraid of this word, be afraid to follow this path of worldly sorrow, which death does. Live in the midst of sorrow for God, among holy tears for your own unworthiness, and for the lost unfortunate people among whom you live, and you will receive eternal salvation. Amen.

"The Kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21)