A few weeks back, I was at a restaurant with a friend/mentee and we discussed convictions about dating. It prompted this article and If I may ask, what’s your conviction? About Christianity, dating, life, family, marriage, and the likes?
If you were to define a conviction, how would you define it? From the Cambridge dictionary, a conviction is a “strong belief or opinion”. More often than not, convictions stem from a personal belief system. For the purpose of this article, I split the topic of convictions into two.
The first is Convictions stemming from personal belief. You can discover this in Romans 14:5, it says: One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.
For the second, we have Conviction from the Holy Spirit as a means to repentance. You can find this in John 16:8, it says: And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.
Conviction from personal belief
In this article, you and I will discuss only the first part of conviction.
To develop a conviction, you need to learn about the thing first. 2 Timothy 3:14 says But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them.
This verse was in Apostle Paul’s letter to Timothy. He basically affirmed that for you to have a conviction, you ought to have learnt about it, so you can continue in it. So how do you learn about it?
In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, we see that scripture, otherwise known as the Bible plays an important role in building your convictions. Psalm 119:105 says Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. It’s one thing to have a manual, and it’s another to figure out the process without a manual. You have a manual, all you need is to read it.
Why should you have a conviction?
Personally, I believe if you don’t have a conviction, you allow anything. Besides, convictions help you to stand firm in your belief. You can’t be swayed by false doctrines, when you know what your conviction is.
In the Bible, Daniel stood by his convictions, even when there were orders to conform. From Daniel’s story, you can see that convictions help you to live a holy life and those backed by the Bible are not easily tossed aside.
Let God’s word be the basis of your conviction.
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