Conviction and fear of God CONVICTION

is defined as a firmly held belief or persuasion which usually pertains to moral standards or godly principles. It is an inner drive or motivation to pursue the right way. In effect, a person with conviction is challenged to take a strong stand for what is right. It is like enlightenment within a person which brings light to his or her conscience so that if he or she is living in sin, there is a feeling of remorse or regret in the inner self. The story of the Prodigal Son gives us an example. “Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food?’ But here I am, starving to death! I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father I have sinned against heaven and against you…” When he started to follow his conviction, he came to the realization of his mistakes which brought him to repentance.

Conviction, by nature, is based on moral grounds, thus, it is divinely inspired and not only from human plane. It is written that when God comes, He will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He brings light to our conscience. When we follow its dictates, we are essentially following our conviction. We become even more holy. On the contrary, the more we violate our conscience, the more our conscience is seared. When our conscience is seared, our conviction is disregarded and we become dull in our responses to righteous judgment leading to a sinful life. A model of conviction admonished us on this by saying, “Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins.”

It is a lesson for us not to always wait for divine