In the journey of making our faith our own, there always comes a point when we put to the test what we have been taught or have come to believe in the past. I don't think that we ever stop putting our faith to the test and we continue digging deep for Spiritual and Biblical truths. Recently, I've been looking at who the Holy Spirit is and how He works in my life, particularly in the area of conviction.
Growing up, I was told that the Holy Spirit is in essence your conscience. He is was tells you what is right or wrong. Partially true, partially not with the not part being a false seed that lead to all sorts of inaccurate beliefs. However, I have to give my teachers credit for always doing their best and in all honestly, how do you explain the Holy Spirit and his work to a child? I think this over-simplification of who the Holy Spirit is can cause a bit of confusion when it comes to identifying how He works. The Holy Spirit is not our conscience. Our conscience is a combination of our ideals, spiritual goals, thoughts that we have nurtured into beliefs, and influences from our culture and society. It is the filter through which we perceive everything in our environment. What happens to my filter/conscience when the Holy Spirit is working in my life?
One of the many promises of salvation is that I no longer need to be a slave to guilt or shame. God promises to help me identify the behaviors that are not only destructive to me but those that are also keeping me from growing in my relationship with Him. Then He helps me to overcome those behaviors. So, how do I know the difference between guilt and conviction? I've taken quotes from Robert McGee's book "The Search for Significance" and listed them below. Reading over these differences has helped me to put things into perspective, learn who the Holy Spirit truly is, and also identify where there is a battlefield in my life.
"Perhaps no emotion is more destructive than guilt. It causes a loss of self-respect. It causes the human spirit to wither, and it eats away at our personal significance. Guilt is a strong motivation, but it plays on our fears of failure and rejection; therefore, it can never ultimately build, encourage, or inspire us in our desire to live for Christ."
One of the many promises of salvation is that I no longer need to be a slave to guilt or shame. God promises to help me identify the behaviors that are not only destructive to me but those that are also keeping me from growing in my relationship with Him. Then He helps me to overcome those behaviors. So, how do I know the difference between guilt and conviction? I've taken quotes from Robert McGee's book "The Search for Significance" and listed them below. Reading over these differences has helped me to put things into perspective, learn who the Holy Spirit truly is, and also identify where there is a battlefield in my life.
"Perhaps no emotion is more destructive than guilt. It causes a loss of self-respect. It causes the human spirit to wither, and it eats away at our personal significance. Guilt is a strong motivation, but it plays on our fears of failure and rejection; therefore, it can never ultimately build, encourage, or inspire us in our desire to live for Christ."
1. Guilt focuses on the state of being condemned: "I am unworthy." Conviction focuses on behavior: "This act is unworthy of Christ and is destructive."
2. Guilt deals with the sinner's loss of self-esteem and a wounded self-pride: "What will others think of me?" Conviction deals with the loss of our moment-by moment communication with God: "This act is destructive to me and interferes with my walk with God."
3. Guilt produces a fear of punishment: "Now I'm going to get it!" Conviction produces a fear of the destructiveness of the act itself. "This behavior is destructive to me and others, and it robs me of what God intends for me."
4. The agent of guilt is Satan: "The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ" (2 Cor 4:4) The agent of conviction is the Holy Spirit: "But if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live." (Rom 8:13)
5. Guilt leads to depression and more sin: "I am just a low-down, dirty, rotten sinner"; or to rebellion: "I don't care. I'm going to do whatever I want to do." Conviction leads to repentance, the turning from sin to Christ: "Lord, I agree with You that my sin is wrong and destructive. What do You want me to do?"
6. The interpersonal result of guilt is alienation, a feeling of shame that drives one away from the person who has been wronged, the person who has wronged you, or the person who has witnesses the wrong: "I can't ever face him or her again." The interpersonal result of conviction is restoration, a desire to remedy the harm done to others: "Father, what would You have me do to right this wrong and restore the relationship with the one I have offended?"
7. Guild ends in depression, bitterness, and self-pity: "I'm just no good." Conviction ends in comfort, the realization of forgiveness: "You have made me complete and have given me the righteousness of Christ, even though my performance often falls short."
Reading over these differences has helped me to put things into perspective, learn who the Holy Spirit truly is, and also identify where there is a battlefield in my life.
Reading over these differences has helped me to put things into perspective, learn who the Holy Spirit truly is, and also identify where there is a battlefield in my life.
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