Repentance or Self Pity

Today we will take a look at 2Cor7 as a source of our inspiration and recovery. In vs 1 it refers to a promise in Ch 6 which says in vs 17 …”touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you..”. In Ch 7 we are challenged to cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit. For someone struggling with an addictive or long term sin this can be a challenging and discouraging perspective because we think we have tried - even tried everything. The key is not to give up. We must remember that in recovery we are rebuilding mind, body, and spirit. That takes time and effort. Later in the chapter we see in vs 9 that Paul refers to the idea that our grief can lead to repentance. We have to search our hearts and make sure we do not fall into the trap of self pity or self condemnation which are not the same as true repentance. True repentance takes an element of openness and self honesty that allows us to see what and how to really change. That usually takes the ability and willingness to talk to someone about what we struggle with. Vs 10 holds a key thought of godly grief producing repentance that leads to salvation but a wordly grief produces death. As we struggle repeatedly we can often think it is easier to just give up and if we do, the sin can take hold and sentence us to a spiritual death. We have to search our inner being and draw strength from God and those around us to not let that happen. We need to find that ‘eagerness to clear ourselves’. We need to help each other find the ‘zeal’ necessary to change to the point of being innocent in whatever challenges us.