All of us have watched as a criminal is hauled before the judge with tears in his eyes, sorry that he has been caught in his crime and well aware that he is about to pay the price for his wrongdoing. We never feel sorry for such people. In our view at the time, they are just getting what they so richly deserve: “If you can’t do the time, then don’t do the crime!” We realize that most people who are caught up in such a circumstance are not really sorry for what they have done; they only regret that they have gotten caught.

On the other hand, there is a sorrow that grows out of having done wrong which actually accomplishes much good. Paul spoke of it in 2 Corinthians 7:9 when he wrote: “Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance…For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted.” Paul had written to these Christians in 1 Corinthians and had awakened in them an awareness of the wrongful nature of what was going on in their midst. Consequently, they had taken speedy action to correct the evil. The sinner had repented and corrected the situation, and so everything had turned out very well.

Paul hated it that he had been forced to bring such unhappy feelings into their hearts, for he loved them as his brethren in Christ. But, when it comes down to a question of whether we must cause a little momentary discomfort in order to help someone put themselves and others back on the straight and narrow, it should never be a question of “whether” but only of “when” we will do the right thing to help them make it to heaven and miss eternal hell.

All too often, though, we wish to avoid that temporary discomfort for others to the point where we are unwilling to say to them what they need to hear. We know that it may make them sad, or sorry, or even mad. We need always to keep in mind that godly sorrow produces repentance and that leads ultimately to salvation. Every saved person you know was brought to conviction and repentance on account of the fact that someone told them precisely what they needed to hear at exactly the moment when they needed to hear it. They may not have liked it at the time. But their salvation today is a result of somebody who loved them enough to tell them what the Lord’s Word was for them at the time.

Sin leads to death and damnation. On the other hand, godly sorrow leads to salvation. And no person who ever enters those gates of pearl will ever be sorry that you told them what it took to make it possible for them to enter there. You can take that to the bank!