Bible reading: 2 Corinthians 7:8 – 11
Step 4 - We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of
ourselves.
Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to
the Lord. Lamentations 3:40
Principle 4 – Openly
examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust.
(Steps 4 and 5)
“Happy are the pure in heart.”
We all have to deal with sorrow. We may try to stuff it down
and ignore it. We may try to drown it or avoid feeling it by intellectualizing.
But sorrow doesn’t go away. We need to accept the sorrow that will be a part of
the inventory process.
Not all sorrow is bad for us. The apostle Paul had written a
letter to the church in Corinth. It made them very sad because Paul was
confronting them about something that they were doing wrong. At first, he was
sorry that he had hurt them. But later he said, “Now I am glad I sent it, not
because it hurt you, but because the pain turned you to God. It was a good kind
of sorrow you felt, the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have… For God
sometimes uses sorrow in our lives to help us turn away from sin and seek
eternal life. We should never regret His sending it… Just see how much good
this grief from the Lord did for you! You no longer shrug your shoulders, but
became earnest and sincere, and very anxious to get rid of the sin.” (2 Corinthians
7:8 – 11)
Jeremiah said, “Although God gives… Grief, yet he will show
compassion too, according to the greatness of his loving kindness. For he does
not enjoy afflicting men and causing sorrow.” (Lamentations 3:32 – 33)
This grief was good, for it came from honest self-evaluation,
not morbid self-condemnation. We can learn to accept their sorrow as a positive
part of our recovery, not just as punishment.
Honest self-examination can lead us to a sorrow that
inspires our growth.
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