5-Day Devo (Based on 10.26.25 Sermon)

Here's a 5-day Bible reading plan and devotional guide based on the October 26, 2025 Sermon.

Reading: 2 Corinthians 7:2-4; Proverbs 3:11-12

Devotional:
"Make room in your hearts for us." Paul's plea to the Corinthians echoes across the centuries to us today. How often do we close our hearts when correction comes? We build walls of defensiveness, tighten our emotional borders, and keep at a distance anyone who might expose our vulnerabilities.

But notice Paul's approach—he doesn't lead with authority or credentials. He leads with affection. "You are in our hearts, to die together and to live together." This is the heart of godly correction: it flows from love, not superiority. It seeks restoration, not domination.

Perhaps you've been resisting God's gentle correction in some area of your life. Maybe you've heard His whisper about a relationship that needs mending, a habit that needs breaking, or an attitude that needs adjusting. The question is: will you make room in your heart?

God's correction is never rejection—it's protection. Proverbs reminds us that "the Lord disciplines the one he loves." When we feel that uncomfortable pressure of conviction, it's not evidence that we've lost His favor; it's proof that we have it. Only those He loves does He refine.

Reflection Questions:

• Where have I built walls of defensiveness against God's correction?
• What would it look like to "open wide" my heart to Him today?
• Is there someone whose godly correction I've been resisting?

Prayer: Lord, help me to make room in my heart for You again. Remove the barriers of pride and defensiveness I've built. Let me hear Your correction not as condemnation but as the loving voice of a Father who wants to restore me. Give me the courage to be vulnerable before You today. Amen.

Reading: 2 Corinthians 7:8-10; Psalm 51:1-12

Devotional:
"Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death." This distinction is life-changing. Not all sorrow leads to life. Not all regret results in redemption.

Worldly grief keeps you in a prison of shame. It replays your failures on an endless loop, whispering lies: "You'll never change. You've ruined it for good. You're not enough." This sorrow is self-focused, driving you deeper into despair and farther from God. It looks like repentance on the surface, but underneath it's just shame wearing a religious mask.

Godly grief, however, transforms. It opens your eyes to sin while simultaneously opening your heart to grace. It's conviction, not condemnation. It's the pain that wakes you up to your desperate need for mercy—and then runs you straight into the arms of the One who offers it freely.

David understood this difference. In Psalm 51, after his catastrophic failure with Bathsheba, he doesn't wallow in self-pity. He runs to God: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." That's godly grief—sorrow that doesn't end in regret but in renewal.

The difference is simple: shame tells you to hide; conviction invites you to return. Worldly grief says, "You failed; stay away." Godly grief says, "You failed; come closer."

Reflection Questions:

• Am I experiencing worldly grief (shame-based) or godly grief (grace-oriented)?
• What failures am I replaying instead of repenting of?
• How can I turn my sorrow into a pathway back to God?

Prayer: Father, I confess that I've often confused shame with repentance. I've let worldly grief keep me distant from You when godly grief would draw me near. Help me to see my sin clearly, but also to see Your grace more clearly still. Let my sorrow lead not to death but to the life-giving transformation only You can bring. Amen.

Reading: 2 Corinthians 7:11; James 2:14-26

Devotional:
"For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment!"

True repentance is never passive. It doesn't just feel bad about sin—it actively turns away from it. The Corinthians didn't just say, "We're sorry." Their entire posture changed. Paul lists the evidence: earnestness, eagerness, longing, zeal. These aren't the words of people stuck in shame; they're the language of people set free.

C.S. Lewis captured this beautifully: "Repentance is not something God demands of you before He will take you back; it is simply a description of what going back looks like." Repentance is the turning. It's the movement from death to life, from darkness to light, from bondage to freedom.

James reminds us that faith without works is dead. The same is true of repentance without fruit. If your repentance hasn't changed anything—your relationships, your habits, your priorities—then it may not have been repentance at all. It may have just been regret.

But when the Spirit truly convicts a willing heart, transformation follows. Not because we're trying to earn God's favor, but because we've finally tasted His grace and can't go back to the poison we once craved.

Reflection Questions:

• What fruit is my repentance producing? Is there evidence of real change?
• Am I content with feeling sorry, or am I actually turning away from sin?
• What specific step can I take today to demonstrate genuine repentance?

Prayer: Lord, I don't want empty words or hollow emotions. I want true transformation. Where I've been content with regret, stir up genuine repentance. Where I've made excuses, give me the courage to change. Produce in me the fruit of earnestness, eagerness, and zeal for holiness. Let my life demonstrate that Your grace is real and Your power is at work in me. Amen.

Reading: 2 Corinthians 7:5-7; Hebrews 10:24-25

Devotional:
"But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus."

Paul was exhausted. He faced "fighting without and fear within." He was battling criticism from outside the church and heartbreak from within. He was anxious, wondering if he'd lost the people he loved. Then Titus arrived—and with him came comfort.

Notice how God chose to comfort Paul: through the presence of a person. Not through a mystical experience or a dramatic sign, but through a brother who showed up with a story of grace. Titus carried good news of repentance, renewed affection, and restored relationship.

Sometimes the most powerful way God comforts us is through another person's obedience. Someone who shows up, listens, and reminds us that God is still at work. Someone who becomes God's hands, feet, and voice in our moment of need.

This is why we can't do the Christian life alone. We need community. We need people who will show up when we're weary, carry encouragement when we're discouraged, and remind us that God hasn't given up on us—or on the people we love.

Maybe you need a Titus today—someone to bring you comfort and good news. Or maybe God is calling you to be someone's Titus—to carry encouragement to a weary soul, to bring hope where there's been tension, to remind someone that grace is still winning.

Reflection Questions:

• Who has God used to comfort me in difficult seasons?
• Is there someone I need to reach out to today who might be "downcast"?
• Am I isolating myself when I should be seeking community?

Prayer: Father, thank You for not leaving me alone in my struggles. Thank You for the gift of community and for the people You've sent to comfort me. Help me to be a Titus to someone today—to show up, to listen, to carry Your encouragement. Open my eyes to those who are weary and give me the courage to be Your presence in their lives. Amen.

Reading: 2 Corinthians 7:11-13a; Psalm 30:1-5

Devotional: Paul's story with the Corinthians ends not in sorrow but in celebration. Their godly grief produced earnestness, eagerness, indignation against sin, longing for righteousness, and zeal for God. What began with tears ended with joy. That's the mystery of grace: correction that once caused pain becomes the very thing that brings peace.

"Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning" (Psalm 30:5). If you're in a season where God's correction feels heavy, hold on. Stay open to the Spirit's work. Let repentance do what resistance never can—bring restoration. The same God who comforted Paul and restored the Corinthians is still doing that work today in you.

God's correction is never rejection—it's His invitation to wholeness. And when we respond with humility instead of pride, we step into the place where grace does its deepest work.

Reflection Questions: 

• Can you look back and see where God's past correction led to present joy? 
• How does that give you hope for current struggles?

Prayer: Father, thank You that Your correction flows from love, not condemnation. Help me receive Your discipline with humility, knowing it leads to life. Transform my worldly grief into godly sorrow that produces repentance. Make me both willing to receive correction and gentle in giving it. May I always remember that Your discipline is proof of Your love. In Jesus' name, Amen.

This 5-Day Devotional was generated with the help of AI, and is based off of Pastor Doug's October 26, 2025 Sermon: When Correction Becomes Restoration.