“For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing” (2 Corinthians 7:8-9).
One talent that many of us seem to possess involves the ability to second guess our choices and decisions. This refers to the act of revisiting a decision after it has been made by asking, “Did I really make the right choice in that situation?”
While it is often helpful to review the factors that led to a particular decision, it seems much more common for people to second guess themselves in a negative sense. As we’ll discuss later in this chapter, this may or may not be a good thing for the answer often depends on the actions we take as a result.
This idea may also encompass the feeling of regret we sometimes experience whenever we are required to take an appropriate, but undesired course of action. Anyone who has ever experienced this kind of regret can take comfort in the fact that Paul the Apostle found himself in this very situation regarding the members of the Corinthian church.
For instance, consider the passage quoted above; notice how Paul’s emotional state swung like a pendulum in regard to his previous correspondence with the church: “I made you sorry… I do not regret it… I did regret it… Now I rejoice…” It seems that Paul experienced an initial sense of sorrow or regret regarding his earlier letter, perhaps fearing that he might have been too harsh in his approach. However, he was greatly relieved to find that the Corinthians accepted his message with the right attitude and responded accordingly.
One commentary summarizes this idea in the following manner…
…The whole process which the apostle is describing here may be likened to the work of a surgeon. In order for him to remove a dangerously infected part from the human body, it is necessary for him to cut deep into the flesh.
He does not rejoice in thus causing pain to the patient, though he knows it must be done if the patient is to regain his health. Especially if the patient is a close friend, the surgeon is keenly aware of the suffering that will be necessary. But he realizes that this suffering is only temporary, and he is willing that it should be so in order that the final outcome might be favorable.” (1)
(1) William Macdonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary Edited by Arthur Farstad Thomas Nelson Publishers (2 Corinthians 7:8)