We live in a fallen world. A world of pain, suffering, grief, sorrow and many other negative emotions and maladies of the mind and heart. It is for this purpose we were sent here, to experience and master the world of opposites; that in our experience with sorrow we might know joy. This world was made for the perfection of our experience; to shape, mould and perfect us that we might have joy in this life and the fullness of joy throughout our eternal existence. Without knowing mortality, we would never have known this fullness but would have languished in innocence and imperfection for eternity. It was therefore imperative that we became agents of our own fate whereby we could choose the outcome of our eternal station. In the process of choosing between right and wrong that would lead us to this outcome, is a necessary teaching tool known as sorrow. This sorrow is born from our inclination to indulge the natural man and is meant to lead us back from wayward paths to the path of accountability, purpose and wisdom.
The sorrow spoken of here falls into two categories: the sorrow of the world and 'godly sorrow'. It is important for us to understand the distinction between the two because one can keep us trapped in misery while the other can grant us emotional and spiritual freedom. When we choose to be in the world and have no regard for God's laws, we are prone to experience worldly sorrow. The world is trapped in this type of sorrow which offers no peace and no redemption. When the Nephite civilization began it's demise into total destruction, many of them lamented the state they were in which gave Mormon great hopes that their sorrow would lead them to repentance. In this, Mormon was greatly disappointed because he records: "But behold this my joy was vain, for their sorrowing was not unto repentance, because of the goodness of God; but it was rather the sorrowing of the damned, because the Lord would not always suffer them to take happiness in sin" (Mormon 2:13). In other words, the Nephites sorrowed because they could not have it both ways; they could not live in sin and at the same time be happy. And herein is found one of Satan's biggest lies; that we are free to do whatever we want. Freedom of the heart, however, does not come with 'whatever we want'. Very often 'whatever we want' comes with sorrow. Today, in our attempt to prove that we are free to choose, we have surrounded ourselves by the sorrow of the world: lives devastated by drugs, cruelty, abusive behaviour, greed, selfishness, corruption, immorality, deceit and much more. Those who are of the world experience sorrow for their reckless behaviour when they are shocked into it by the consequences of their actions or when they are found out.
Unlike worldly sorrow, godly sorrow leads to repentance and freedom. A truly repentant person will experience sorrow not only because of the cost of sin to themselves but also because they offended God. They can see clearly they have put in jeopardy the salvation of their soul, they come to regret their actions and their sorrowing results in a broken heart. This is godly sorrow. This sorrow brings about grieving that teaches us accountability and grows in us a desire to abstain from further sinning. Desisting the sin is simply not enough to effect true repentance because it does not bring about a change of heart. Merely desisting without godly sorrow means it is just a matter of time before we go back to the sin which has had us in its grip. When we experience godly sorrow, we show sincerity in our intentions to forsake the sin. This painful 'payment' acts as a perfect deterrent in the repentance process.
God's love for us is always there but when we are living a sinful life we distance ourselves from that love. Catastrophically, we also distance ourselves from our chance of salvation and ultimate exaltation. Repentance is perhaps the greatest proof of God's mercy towards His children. Not wanting to leave us in the fallen world forever He has provided the way for us to be reconciled to Him and be once more worthy of His presence. Repentance is crucial for this reconciliation. No unclean thing can enter the kingdom of God (3 Nephi 27:19) because God Himself is clean, pure and perfect therefore He cannot receive us into His presence if we are unclean and tainted by sin. But uncleanliness can be eradicated for those 'who have washed their garments in [Christ's] blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end' (3 Nephi 27:19).
The path to reconciliation with God is in Christ. He is the healing in our wings and the path back to freedom and spiritual security. Because of Him we need not suffer the sorrow of the world but the sorrow that will bring us back to God. This is the sorrow that is worth the pain because it is momentary as opposed to the sorrow of the world that is never ending. "The delightful promise of the Gospel to those who 'sorrow after a godly sort' (2 Cor. 7:11) is complete forgiveness and reconciliation to God. There is a power in the Atonement of Christ that makes the repentant soul new again: "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 5:17-18). This dream of a new life, a new start, a new chance is made reality in the Atonement of Christ." (Breck England, NT Lesson 35, Be Ye Reconciled to God)
A bird
Once broken
Can never fly,
They say,
Quite so high
Again.
Perhaps.
But as for me,
Now desperately
In need of mending,
I have a healer
Who would restore
These foolish wings
Without a scar.
I will lie quiet
Beneath His touch.
I will listen
As He whispers,
"Rise, and fall no more"
And then -
Then I shall
Soar.
- Carol Lynn Pearson
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