Building Godly Conviction

Heb 5:12-14
12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the
elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who
lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But
solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good
from evil. NIV

The Hebrew church was close to thirty years old when Paul said this, and it must have hurt!

The question we need to now turn our attention to is: What builds conviction?
To build conviction is not as difficult as we think. If we were to think about it we would see that we have
developed much conviction in our lives without necessarily being conscious of the process. Nevertheless,
one of the simplest ways to develop conviction is through repetition.

Much of what we believe is because we have heard or seen examples in our lives repeated over and over
again. Many of our traditions, we adhere to just as strongly as our parents do because we have
experienced those traditions year after year till these traditions became part of us. Our ideals are based
on ideas that have served us over and over again with consistent results that have convinced us of their
validity.

Let’s face it, if someone were to tell you that the president was assassinated, you would find it hard to
believe, but after ten people were to tell you the same thing, with similar details, and you see it on the
news, and read it in the newspaper, you begin to start spreading the news yourself. You have been
convinced, by the testimony of many people, even though you were not there yourself. Your new
conviction compelled you to speak up about what you now believe to be true.

In order to develop godly conviction, what must I repeatedly expose myself to? Godly principles of course.
This, consequently, means that to gain spiritual conviction we must be constantly exposed to the source
of all of our knowledge of God, namely, our Bible. What I mean is, if conviction comes from repetition,
then the more I am exposed to something spiritual the more convinced I would be of it. Common sense
would then say that if in the Bible I find truth, the more I read my Bible the more convinced I would be of
the truth, and therefore the more godly conviction I will possess.

When you survey the Bible, it is obvious that there is no scripture in the Bible commanding Christians to
read the Bible every day. Yet, there is no denying God’s command toward obedience and his exhortation
to utilize the Bible to help fulfill that daily obedience:

Josh 1:7-8
8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that
you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. NIV

Ps 119:9-11
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you. NIV

Deut 17:18-20
18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this
law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all

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the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the
words of this law and these decrees 20 and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn
from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his
kingdom in Israel. NIV

1 Cor 15:1-2
15:1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and
on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word
I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. NIV

Col 3:16
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all
wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
NIV

Heb 2:1
2:1 We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift
away. NIV

Heb 11:5-6, Rom 10:17

6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must
believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him… 17 Consequently, faith
comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. NIV

James 1:25
25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do
this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it-he will be blessed in what he does. NIV

It is undeniable that God has encouraged us to be exposed to the Word because by doing so we will
deepen our godly conviction, which will consequently compel us to a steadfast obedience.

Reading the Bible is not a command, but it is a tool that God uses to help us develop spiritual conviction,
which in turn will make us be more rooted and help us to stay faithful till death, providing more guarantees
that we will reach our place in heaven.

For example, if we eat healthy, then our health will improve. If we eat healthy on a daily basis, then
consequently, we will be at our best physically. Similarly, if we read our Bible our godly conviction will
develop, and consequently, if we read our Bible daily then our godly conviction will grow astronomically.

If I miss a day of reading, I am not in sin, but it will invoke a basic principle of life: the more you do
something the more habitual and easy it will become; the less you do something, the harder it is to do,
and the harder it is to start doing again. If I don’t read I am building habits that will work against my desire
of building deeper spiritual conviction. Yet, if I read daily, I am building habits that will get me to heaven.

I will strive to read daily because then I will become stronger spiritually. I will be in tune with God
Almighty; exposed to His love, His power, His compassion and His strength, which will help me be a more
obedient child of His, and will ultimately bring Him glory.

Seeing that the only truthful information we have about God and Jesus are found mainly in the Bible, it
only makes sense that we go to scripture to hear the truth. The world bombards us with lies, Satan
bombards us with lies, and our sinful nature bombards us with lies. In the midst of all the lies, we should
cling to the only truth that we have in this world; the truth that people have given their lives throughout
history to protect, namely, God’s word.

Do you want godly conviction? Read your Bible. Do you want a lot of godly conviction? Read your Bible a
lot. Do you want a conviction that grows daily, building a solid foundation that will make you immovable to

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Satan’s attacks, and more guarantees you finishing the race to receive the crown of life? Then read your
Bible every day, and stand back and watch what God does with your life. As God says:

Isa 55:10-11
10 As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty ,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. NIV

Question for reflection:

What are the blessings and benefits that come from reading the word of God daily?

Decision:

I will strive to read and meditate on God’s word every day of my life.

Scripture memory:

James 1:25
25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do
this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it-he will be blessed in what he does. NIV

Practice:

I will make time in my day, today, to read my Bible and meditate on what I am learning.

Will Pena

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