“Most religious people have never experienced true repentance. Why? Because they continually judge and condemn themselves on a regular. Most people are already convinced in their minds that they are sinners. They reason in their minds “well, yeah, I have sinned, but so has the next guy and when I look around at others, my sins are nothing compared to his, so I believe I’m going to heaven because I am not that bad.” On the other hand, godly sorrow is a deeply emotional experience where the sinner is brought face to face with his own inner darkness. It is the dark time of the soul. It is no longer a comparison to the “next guy.” It becomes “it’s me Lord—and compared to You, I am a wretched being, a poor excuse of humanity. My heart cries out to You to save me.”

Furthermore, religious folk are always looking to…