Jesus 101: Good Grief


Nobody likes to grieve.  That's because we grieve when we've lost something.  And losing something is rarely good!

But Jesus said in his second beatitude (Matthew 5:4) that those who mourn are blessed, because they will be comforted.  God will come alongside and help them in their loss.

To be sure, God comforts us when we lose our loved ones.  I can testify to God's help in my own losses.  But I think Jesus was reaching beyond mourning the loss of our loved ones.  He was talking about mourning over our sin.

In 2 Corinthians 7:8-10, the apostle Paul spoke of sorrow that led to repentance.  Godly sorrow can lead to good change.  

Our great grandparents mourned over their sins.  Many churches had "Mourners' Benches" in them, where Christ followers would fall on their knees and confess their sins to God.  But we don't do such things!  We don't reflect much on our sins.  "Sinners" are other people!

The result is we never change.  If you're not a sinner, you're not responsible for what you do.  And if you're not responsible for what you do, you can never change.  

Mourning isn't repentance.  Repentance is making a change.  But oftentimes, repentance begins with mourning.

We begin our mourning with our individual sins.  But we don't stop there.  We need to mourn our social sins as well.  In past centuries, Christ followers mourned and ended slavery, got children out of factories, provided medical care for the poor, housing for orphans, and much more.  

Mourn for your sins and seek God's power.  Beyond that, mourn the sins of our culture and stand against them.  Even when those sins are popular!

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