Godly sorrow...

Hi friends,

Have you ever experienced someone apologising to you for something they have done, but then they carry on and do that same thing again in the future? Or have you ever said sorry for something that you later repeated? This is one of the things that bothers me most in my relationships, if I'm honest. It has gotten to the point where I have said to someone "please don't say sorry unless you are going to make a change to your behaviour." It is possible to say sorry, to even feel a measure of sorrow for the hurt we've caused (or the shame we feel), but for us to not to change.

In 2 Corinthians 7, Paul contrasts godly sorrow with worldly sorrow. He describes godly sorrow as bringing repentance, which means a change in direction/behaviour, which leads to salvation (wholeness and healing in life). In v.11, Paul describes godly sorrow even further, describing its effects as including earnestness, alarm, longing, concern, and readiness to see justice done. In contrast to this godly sorrow and its effects, worldly sorry is described as bringing death. I think the reason worldly sorry leads to death is because expressions or feelings of sorry without accompanying repentance (change in direction or behaviour) can lull us into complacency which has dangerous consequences. The feeling of sorrow alone, whether being sorry for hurting others or the shame we feel, does not lead to life. Only repentance - turning around and walking in a new direction - leads to life. How connected are our feelings and expressions of sorrow to our changed actions? That is a challenge to us all.

On this page I had already stencilled some leaves using leftover acrylic paint and the Fall Leaves stencil. When I started adding other things to the page though, I realised the leaves were too dark and competed with other elements on the page, so I added a layer of white gesso over the top to tone it down, which worked well. I applied some subtle colour using gelatos around the edges of the page, blending with my fingers. The leaves were stamped and die-cut using the Give Thanks bundle and coloured with Inktense blocks and an aquabrush. The text was stamped with a few alpha sets: Marker Alpha, Classy Script Alpha, Mini Grunge Type Alpha, and Sunshine Girl Alpha. 

Be blessed...

x Amy x