Thank God for Conviction

I have a page-a-day calendar on my desk that one of the students in my religion class gave me for Christmas. It's called Truth for Today: A Daily Touch of God's Grace, by John MacArthur.

I'm a little behind in reading the daily entries because I like to spend a little time reflecting on them. And some days in the office simply don't allow for that reflection. So, today, I read the entry for Feb 16th. And it really spoke to me. Here is the gist of it...

Spiritual Life without conviction would be like physical life without pain. God has placed a system of conviction in us for our own good. Conviction is a defense mechanism, like an alarm that goes off to lead us to confession when we sin.

I never really thought of it that way. The calendar goes on to say that this admission must be part of my life before I can ever grow spiritually as it eliminates the sin that holds me back. Confession is vital to each person's commune with God.

**I originally wrote this post as Thank God for Guilt. But I was later educated in the difference between conviction and guilt. One is from God and the other isn't. So, I've adjusted this post to refer to conviction from God as opposed to guilt.