Your personal convictions [on such matters]-exercise [them] as in God’s presence, keeping them to yoursef [striving only to know the truth and obey His will]. Blessed (happy to be envied) is he who has no reason to judge himself for what he approves [who does not convict himself by what he chooses to do]. Rom 14:22
At the end of the previous post i was talking about how a man or woman of conviction sticks behind what he decides. He or she is confident about what they decide to do. They are sure of themselves. To be a man or woman of conviction you need to be confident about who you are. Know who you are. If you don’t know who you are look into the word of God. Your identity comes from Him and no one else.
The second part of that scripture says:
But the man who has doubts (misgivings, an uneasy conscience) about eating, and then eats [perhaps because of you], stands condemned [before God], because he is not true to his convictions and he does not act from faith. For whatever does not originate and proceed from faith is sin [whatever is done without a conviction of its approval by God is sinful]. Romans 14:23
There was a time i remember when i seen this principle in action. I was invited to a friends house for lunch. It was a bit difficult for me i have to admit. At that time i still lacked confidence and had no self esteem. It was bad. Anyway, as lunch was being prepared my friend and i were watching tv. I didn’t want to watch tv. I thought it was a waste of time. There were so many other things we could do. But guess what? I didnt say a thing. Later that day my friend and their family had visitors. It was cool but still awkward for me. One of the visitors started smoking and to make it worse he was right next to me. So all that smoke came my way. But guess what, i still never moved away!I stayed put. The smoke was killing me but i never said a thing or moved. At the end of it all i did not enjoy, all because i tried to please people despite what i really felt. I never stuck to my convictions. I was not true to my convictions. Was that a sin, maybe. But how many of us have the same things happen where we don’t stand up for what we think is right? Its important that we stick to our convictions. We stand condemned if we don’t.
But thats the other thing, a lot of us don’t know what to stand up for! We have been taught to just live. We let life pass us by because we don’t know what our purpose is. We allow life to happen to us instead of making life happen. Why are you here on this earth? You have a purpose. Everything on this earth has a purpose. Think about a knife. When someone created it, he had a purpose in mind? A knife was not made just for the sake of just making it. It was made to cut things, specific things. You can’t use a butter knife to cut a whole cow. Thats just crazy.
But just like that knife, you have a purpose.
Jeremiah 29:11 says that God has a purpose for you. A plan of peace and not evil. You have an assignment on this earth. You have a mission. But you have to ask God to show you.
Martin Luther King Jr knew what his assignment was and that is why he was so strong in his coviction. Same goes for William Wallace and Mother Teresa.
Jesus Christ knew His assignment. He gave His life for the assignment. He is a man of conviction.
Let me touch on the last part of that verse.
“For whatever does not originate and proceed from faith is sin. Romans 14: 23
Everything we do must be in faith. Without faith we are nothing. Without faith we cannot please God says Hebrews 11:6. Conviction and faith must go together. They cannot work without each other.
All these things that i have spoken about contribute towards being a man or woman of conviction. You need to have faith. You need to be cofident in who you are and remember that your identity comes from God. You need to ask God to reveal what your assignment is on this earth. What is your God-given mission? You do have one. Everyone does.
And that is the conclusion of how to be a man or woman of conviction.
Rolain. P
kingspeech 