“Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. 3I do not say this to condemn you. I have said before that you so occupy our hearts that we live and die together with you.” vs2-3

You must have integrity in your ministry, if you will be useful, or people will disregard you [vs2].

They look for every fault, and we must be blameless, giving testimony to Christ in word and deed.

We must have love [vs3.] It's not enough to have character: it is self-righteous pride, if we don't love the people. Ministry is not just an outward show but also an inward feeling.

Secondly, you get joy from the repentance of others [vs4]. “Great is my confidence in you; great is my pride in you; I am filled with encouragement; in all our troubles my joy overflows.” Their success is your own joy. Pour into people, and you will reap the same by the grace of God.

“For when we arrived in Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were pressed from every direction—conflicts on the outside, fears within. 6But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the arrival of Titus, 7and not only by his arrival, but also by the comfort he had received from you. He told us about your longing, your mourning, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced all the more.” vs5-7

There are many terrible things that ministers experience [vs5]. It's a war against the flesh that requires God's strength. There are no easy answers. Sometimes, you must spend a night in the deep. Sometimes, He delays answers. Sometimes, He withdraws, and you wonder why you ever meddled with preaching, but you're most unhappy not preaching, so you go on!

Jeremiah said, “If I say, ‘I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,’ His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail. --Jer 20:9

You've got to express your soul and give glory to God.

He comforts us by using our brothers [vs6]! Bless God, we're not in it alone. He sent Jeremiah the Ethiopian eunuch, Ebedmelech. He sends us to each other. Bless God for faithful saints who stand with us in prayer and faithfulness. Bless God for unity that supports.

We get joy on top of joy, when people repent [vs7]. Saints who love us, recovered from their falls, encourage us greatly that our labor is not in vain. Their love brings us joy that our ministries are used, and our love is reciprocated.

Thirdly, There's regret in preaching hard truth [vs8-9].

“Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Although I did regret it, I now see that my letter caused you sorrow, but only for a short time. 9And now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us.”

We don't want to hurt people. We take no pleasure in it. We don't want people in tears.

We are not callous in rebuke, and we'd love to have joy without sorrow. However, we had to correct you clearly, and we did it… not to feel macho, but because we care.

This sorrow was ACCORDING TO GOD [vs9]. It's the sorrow of God's elect, which gives us repentance and brings us to the grace of the gospel. This sorrow is a gift, not given to every man. The elect obtain it, and the rest are hardened.

Fourthly, the sorrow of the world produces death [vs10]! “Godly sorrow [the sorrow God gives] brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow [the sorrow of mere humans] brings death.” It does not lead to Christ's grace. It does not lead to good works.

It leads to despair, unholiness, and excuses. It leads to self-confidence and crying out against God. It leads to hardening the heart and faulting the messenger. It leads to increased ungodliness, because now it knows better. It leads to hell!

Do not sorrow like Judas. Go to Christ and get forgiveness. Go to the Father for the Holy Spirit, and give it your all. Make eradicating sin your life's business. Live for the glory of God.

Fifthly, repentance is proven by good works [vs11]. “Consider what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what vindication! In every way you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.”

Paul said, "First to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to everyone in the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I declared that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of their repentance." --Acts 26:20

Show that you have changed. Attend the false church no longer! Gather with the saints. Stand up in the pulpit and preach the truth!

Don't talk to me on the side, but risk your neck for the gospel. Follow Him, no matter the cost.

Turn from sin to righteousness. Take hold of the truth and don't let it go. Live for God's glory, like you lived for your own. Serve Him now, as you once served yourself.

All of this evidences God given repentance. You turn from dead works to serve the living God [Heb 9:14].

Finally, have you turned? Have you repented? Are you really all out for Christ? Do you believe on Him at a cost?

King David said, "No, I insist on paying a price, for I will not offer to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”