Conviction
In today's Thursday blog we will be looking at conviction. Conviction is something a disciple of Christ will feel on their Christian journey, its inevitable, but sometime we may not know we just experienced conviction. So this blog aims to help us understand what conviction is, biblical passages that demonstrate conviction and learning the ways through which God convicts us. Before we dig deep into this topic, I would encourage you to reflect upon any moments in your life that you have felt conviction whether its at your workplace, school or home and then ask yourself if you ever acted upon those convictions.
What is conviction?
The definition of conviction, according to the Bible, is a work of the Holy Spirit that makes an individual have a profound awareness of their sin in comparison to God's holiness, righteousness and judgement. As Christians, we sometimes confuse conviction for condemnation even though these are 2 different things. In Romans 8:1 we are told “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. This assures us the source of condemnation that some Christians may feel doesn’t come from God but Satan and is a tactic used to discourage and distract us from our walk with Jesus. Condemnation is a call down from the devil that leads to a cycle of shame, guilt and sin but conviction is a call up from God that leads to repentance and spiritual carefulness. Another way to think of conviction is its an epiphany, a light bulb moment, of your spiritual condition ,and if acted upon, results in a deeper hatred for sin. For example conviction may look like having this odd feeling around certain friends, especially when they mention certain things that aren’t in alignment with the word of God, and eventually having a nudge to cut off these friends. As seen in this example, conviction will always occur when there is something in our lives that is not benefiting our walk with Jesus and instead hindering it. Conviction, especially when acted upon, should never be viewed as bad as it indicates: firstly, that a believer is in such close proximity to God that they can hear His voice, secondly, it's a sign of spiritual vitality because as we all know a dead person (Romans 5) can't feel any weight whereas a living person can and lastly, its a sign of a believer’s spiritual sensitivity.
Biblical passages
In Psalms 51 we see David processing his conviction out loud when he says “against you I have sinned and done evil in your sight” this is after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and killed her husband, Uriah. As soon as conviction hits David confesses his sin, repents and continues to follow God so wholeheartedly that God labels David as a man after His own heart. David’s first thought was I have dishonoured God not I dishonoured myself, my family, the people I lead, Uriah's family or anybody else his first thought was I have dishonoured God with the evil I have committed. God was David's priority not others and we need to ask ourselves after I feel conviction what do I do and who do I run to. The answers we give to those questions will reveal how we are currently handling our convictions. Another example of conviction is in Isaiah 6:5 when Isaiah said “ woe to me, I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty”. Isaiah’s conviction came from his deep-seated reverence of God, which we as believers all should have. What Isaiah experienced was a realisation of his sinful flesh because he was in the presence of such a holy God, he not only felt this conviction but confessed it out loud, this is the part we as Christians often neglect even though its fundamental to our Christian walk. What we learn from this is convictions most of the time will arise when you come before the throne of God because the contrast of how holy He is and how sinful our flesh is so emphasised meaning the light of God exposes the darkness of sin.
Ways God convicts us
There are countless ways God convicts us but there are 2 main ways and one is through His word. As it says in 2 Timothy 3:16 “all scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness'“. Conviction is a form of rebuking, correcting and training. The way it works is studying the Word will make us more cautious, more spiritual aware and sensitive to the point of if you do sin your first instinct isn’t self – loathe or to linger in sin but to confess and repent. For instance you may read 1 Corinthians 13 and see that it says love is patient but you realise you haven’t been patient with those around you so you confess this to God and repent. Another way God convicts us is through people. It could be a sermon, it could be a song, or it could even be seeing someone sin that makes you somewhat more aware of your own sin. Either way conviction will hit and when it does the most important thing is what you do with it.
Prayer
Dear God, I pray that the person reading this today feels so convicted that they run to speak with you and dwell in your presence. May their conviction lead them to a deep hatred of sin and a deeper love for you and your word. Let their conviction be a catalyst for their surrender and obedience unto you. In Jesus name, amen.