Building Godly Convictions

Our convictions are our bedrock beliefs about anything. Unfortunately, our beliefs are not always based on Biblical truth and proper values. One may believe that it's acceptable to do certain wrong things and he will inevitably live by what he believes – consequently and consistently doing those wrong things and doing them with a clear conscience. We would hope that it would be the unbeliever that would live by such wrong values rather than us as believers. Unfortunately, we believers can have areas of inconsistency in our lives also.

When one has convictions built on proper Biblical values, he may violate them from time to time but will never continuously stray from them. He will always come back to the values where his beliefs are anchored.

When one does not have clear-cut convictions about a certain area of life, although he may make various attempts at changing his patterns of life, he will be doomed to failure. Because he does not seriously believe in the values he is attempting adopt, he will inevitably lapse, going back to the way of life that is consistent with his real beliefs – wrong though they may be.

Our convictions are tested by that which is expedient, comfortable, and profitable in life. When the temptations we face conflict with one of these three factors, one may find the cost to great and consequently, go the way of his real beliefs.

Expediency is a powerful test of Biblical convictions. When one has a proper Biblical belief in a certain area of his life he will never consistently appeal to the expediency of the moment to justify any lapses. When faced with temptation, if he has real convictions regarding that area of living, he will be unable to continuously violate them, even for expediency's sake.

For example, in the realm of forgiveness, one may reap the benefits of counseling that enable him, through forgiveness, to be free from the debilitating pain of the past. Such experiences may cause him to be a fervent exponent of the truth and benefits of forgiveness. The true test of his convictions, however, will occur when he is faced by an offense that he considers to be beyond the pale of acceptability.

If one has strong Biblical convictions that he should forgive his offender in the same manner and to the same extent that Jesus forgives us, although he may struggle with it, he will inevitably come to the place of unconditional forgiveness. If he doesn't, his beliefs in forgiveness are transient rather than established. They will falter in face of the violation of that which he considered acceptable in his life. Consequently, he will be unforgiving and in some way will attempt to exact a toll of his offender, demanding some evidence of his deserving to be forgiven. Obviously, since none of us deserves the slightest bit of the forgiveness we received from Jesus, neither should our offender be required to deserve our forgiveness before we give it.

Convictions don't come as a product of study and decision. They must be established by revelation. God must show one decisively and definitively in his inner man the truth of a particular belief, thus establishing a powerfully held conviction. This highlighting of a Biblical truth through personal revelation constitutes an underscoring and establishment of a belief that one will not consistently violate nor will he long stray from it.

Jeff