President Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the First Presidency
explained the difference between worldly sorrow and godly sorrow:
“There is an important difference between the sorrow for sin
that leads to repentance and the sorrow that leads to despair.
“The Apostle Paul taught that ‘godly sorrow worketh
repentance to salvation … but the sorrow of the world worketh death’ [2
Corinthians 7:10]. Godly sorrow inspires change and hope through the Atonement
of Jesus Christ. Worldly sorrow pulls us down, extinguishes hope, and persuades
us to give in to further temptation.
“Godly sorrow leads to conversion and a change of heart [see
Ezekiel 36:26; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Mosiah 3:19]. It causes us to hate sin and
love goodness [see Mosiah 5:2]. It encourages us to stand up and walk in the
light of Christ’s love. True repentance is about transformation, not torture or
torment. Yes, heartfelt regret and true remorse for disobedience are often
painful and very important steps in the sacred process of repentance. But when
guilt leads to self-loathing or prevents us from rising up again, it is
impeding rather than promoting our repentance” (“You Can Do It Now!” Ensign
Nov. 2013, 56).
Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
pointed out: “Pride prefers cheap repentance, paid for with shallow sorrow.
Unsurprisingly, seekers after cheap repentance also search for superficial
forgiveness instead of real reconciliation. Thus, real repentance goes far
beyond simply saying, ‘I’m sorry’” (“Repentance,” Ensign, Nov. 1991, 31).
