This week the Lord has been convicting me of sins of commission (acts) and omission (not doing what I am supposed to do). To be entirely honest with the church family, it got me kind of down. I was disappointed in myself, I was wrestling with guilt, and all in all I felt what the Scripture describes as “downtrodden”.
Yet God, in His loving mercy, brought me to this Scripture:
2 Corinthians 7:8-10
Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it – I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while – yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by it. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
Through this Scripture, God began to remind me of a wonderful truth. Conviction is proof of the Holy Spirit at work. Godly sorrow brings about repentance. Worldly sorrow brings about death. In other words: Conviction brings about repentance. Guilt brings about death.
There is a very fine line between guilt & conviction. Guilt causes us to become disappointed in ourselves, we begin to feel unworthy, we feel beat up, unable to stand back up, we become downtrodden.
Conviction on the other hand is a Godly sorrow that calls us to rise above our sin and our circumstance. Our Godly sorrow causes us to stand on guard, to make sure we do better, to call us into a place of victory and not live in a place of defeat.
It is a fine line between guilt & conviction. Guilt will always cause you to run away from God, conviction will always cause you to run to God.
Don’t be afraid of conviction – embrace it, God wants to use it to draw us closer to Him. The following prayer is a dangerous one, but one I believe God is asking of Lifespring:
Search me God and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any unclean way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Convict me of anything that stops me from drawing closer to you – help me to discern and recognize your conviction and shut down any lie of guilt from the enemy. We want more of You, oh Lord. For Your Name’s Sake. Amen
If you need prayer, please feel free to reach out to any of the pastoral team and we would be happy to pray with you and even walk with you in the inner healing process.