A Week of Conviction.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ: I come to you to tell you something every Christian should experience in their lives.

Although I would never claim to be perfect, I do find that there are certain seasons in our lives that God convicts us of our sin in a substantial way that is somewhat off the beaten path. I have been so convicted of my sin lately. It has mostly come through other people, some of whom I look up to greatly. Now, it is not as though they were speaking to me personally in every case as in some cases it came through social media (of all things!). I will not detail all the points that I have been so convicted in the past week and a half or so, but it seems to be happening with a great frequency for me lately.

There were just some things I have had to come clean to God about. My conduct has not been great. But to be honest, I can’t tell if it is the Holy Spirit trying to draw me closer to Christ or whether it has to do with me acting more wrongly than I usually do. It could be a combination of the two, I don’t know. What I do know is that the Bible has a ton to say about repenting of our sin and bringing our concerns (regarding sin) to God.

One such instance where a person shows their good will toward God is in what is called a “free-will offering.” It is an offering the Israelites would give to God on top of the normal offerings they would offer God. In a sense, it is like giving above a tithe. One verse that I like regarding this, which has a lot of theological significance to me personally is this verse,

"But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your own hand." (1 Chronicles 29:14)

This demonstrates the posture of our hearts we need to take toward God. We don’t want to be greedy when it comes to what we give to God. This verse shows a heart that loves God and sees Him as the sovereign creator of the universe.

Elsewhere we see verses such as this one:

"Jesus replied to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”" (Luke 5:31–32)

And that’s exactly how I feel right now is like a sinner. I need to repent. Christ calls us to live for Him and part of that is coming before Him and confessing our sins to Him and turning away from those bad things we do and looking to Christ as the “author and perfector of our faith.”

So, help me, Lord Jesus, to live as you intend for me to live casting aside every idol and careless word and contend for the faith as I try and take every thought captive. I’m a sinner. I know it. Other people know it. Help me to walk in Your Truth.

It is remarkable the emphasis Christ put on repentance. It is not talked about all throughout the Gospels, but I believe it is one of the most important things that Christ taught which can be found here,

"From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near.”" (Matthew 4:17)

It says that “From then on, Jesus preached repentance.” Let that sink in. There were no situations where a person who didn’t know who Christ was wasn’t told to repent. Everyone was. Take this story for example, and really try and meditate on the message of the passage.

"A woman of Samaria came to draw water.

“Give me a drink,” Jesus said to her, because his disciples had gone into town to buy food.

“How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” she asked him. For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.

Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would ask him, and he would give you living water.”

“Sir,” said the woman, “you don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do you get this ‘living water’? You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock.” Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.” “Sir,” the woman said to him, “give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and come here to draw water.”

“Go call your husband,” he told her, “and come back here.”

“I don’t have a husband,” she answered.

“You have correctly said, ‘I don’t have a husband,’”

Jesus said. “For you’ve had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

“Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”

Jesus told her, “Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

Jesus told her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.”" (John 4:7–26)

But I want to be clear here that repenting is not synonymous with feeling shame (which I have struggled with a good deal in my life). Rather, when the Holy Spirit convicts us, He is gentle. He is kind. He wants what is best for us.

This is clearly about Jesus telling the woman to stop living in sexual immorality while also providing for her new life and living water.

So when the Holy Spirit convicts you, don’t think about it too much. Just do what you need to do about it. Confess it. Repent of it. Try to not do it again.

I think we all need to think long and hard about the things in our lives that are keeping us from God. As such, we should listen to the Holy Spirit’s tug on our hearts, open to the Gospel once again, and find comfort in the eyes of our Father.