Back in the day, I was sliding down a very slippery slope, doing many things I knew I shouldn’t be doing. I had been a Christian my whole life and grew up in church, so I knew what was right and wrong.
But I did whatever I wanted anyway.
After a period of time, I stopped feeling bad for sinning. It made sinning even easier.
I would hang out with my Christian friends and complain to them that I “no longer felt conviction” and I didn’t understand why.
“Why am I lacking conviction? Why isn’t the Holy Spirit stopping me from doing these things? Why won’t God step in?” I would ask.
The real question is, how did I get this way? And the answer is so simple, I stopped listening and I stopped being obedient to the Holy Spirit.
It started slow, like a feeling in the pit of my stomach. That I knew I was doing something I shouldn’t be doing. But I would ignore it.
And the more you ignore the Holy Spirit promptings, the quieter and more dull his voice becomes. After a while, you have tuned him out altogether, and that is why you don’t “feel” conviction anymore.
What we have to remember is that we know what is right and wrong, but God gives us the choice and free will to do as we please.
Feeling conviction comes when we spend intimate time with God and live in obedience to the Spirit.
But the Spirit’s ultimate goal is to guide us to the truth of who we are in Christ, which is blameless, holy, righteous and free from sin.
John 16:13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.
It’s not his job to make us feel terrible and stop us from sinning, but to lead us to the truth which then stops us from sinning in the first place.
Because when you truly know who you are, you will make the right decisions. And that is one of the main reasons that we sin in the first place, because we don’t know who we are.
So when I feel the Holy Spirit convicting me, it’s not yelling at me to stop sinning. But rather, telling me the truth of who I really am and that steers me away from the sin altogether.
We are going to sin, that’s inevitable. But what is your bounce-back rate?
When you yell at your spouse for something stupid, how long does it take you to apologize?
When you do something stupid, how long does it take you to realize it was wrong and ask God for forgiveness?
When you say something to your friend that hurts them, how long does it take you to make it right?
Personally, I want to feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit. I want to be guided and corrected because I constantly want to grow and be perfected.
If you feel conviction from the Holy Spirit, that’s great! Keep listening and let him guide you into truth.
And if you don’t feel conviction from the Holy Spirit, that’s okay! I’ve been there. It all starts with just spending intimate time with God and learning who he is. Because when we learn who he is, we become more like him. And when we become more like him, then we know more of how God would have us live our lives. And that leaves room for the Holy Spirit to convict, speak and guide us in the way we should go.
Journal Questions:
Do I feel conviction from the Holy Spirit?
How long after I sin, does it take me to apologize or fix it?
Pray with me!
Father God, I want to be guided by the Holy Spirit. Lead me into truth. The truth of who you are, the truth of who I am and who you want me to be. I want to grow, I want to feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit because I want to be better. Help me to hear your voice more clearly, help me to understand why I do the things that I do. I surrender myself to you today and I ask that you would guide me in the way that I should go.
In Jesus name, amen.
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