So I don't tend to make threads a lot so for me to make one it usually means it's something I have been thinking about a lot. You see I worry about the well being of other believers and perhaps a bit to much but this particular subject is one that concerns me. You see far often I have seen that the discernment between the holy spirits conviction and condemning guilt is very lacking in many believers both new and experienced and it can tear down and hinder even destroy a believer if left unlearned.
Nothing pains me more than seeing a person feeling like their to far gone and seeing themselves as nothing but a sinful disgusting worm because the enemy filled them with condemning guilt and sometimes they think it's the holy spirits conviction.
I want to make it clear which is and which isn't and how to learn and grow from both of them.
The holy spirits conviction The holy spirit when you are doing something you shouldn't will sometimes make you feel guilty and sometimes will press it on until you repent in your heart but not like the enemy does. The holy spirit's method is more like adding pressure until you realize that you need to change your direction. The conviction of the holy spirit is not to make us feel bad or to tear us down it is to lead us guide and direct us, his only goal in his conviction is to help you to grow and mature as a believer and to lead you to the way of cleanliness and repentance he never in no way wants us to look down on ourselves or think of ourselves less in any way. Just like a good teacher he knows the potential of his students and instructs them in how he knows best and since each student is different and has different strengths and weaknesses and has different problems at home (within ourselves) he uses different methods to convict and to instruct them but he never tears them down or makes them feel low he simply shows where they are in error and how to correct it.
Condemning guilt from the enemy Now the enemy would love for believers to confuse his teachings with the holy spirits, think of him as detention teacher with a ruler in his hand ready to slam it on your desk make sure to tell you everything you do wrong is so miserable with his own life he lavishes making you feel horrible. You actually can learn from even this, in learning how he teaches you thus learn how different his teachings are from the holy spirits. He is aggressive and badgering he won't just make sure you know what you did wrong he will keep on that making sure that you continue to feel awful about what you did even after repenting. He is the kind of teacher who gives pop quizzes you haven't studied for just to see you fail and he cannot be reasoned with.
He will make you feel filthy and dirty and make you look down on yourself and hopefully even make you learn to attack yourself every time you screw up. You see like any student in a class you eventually graduate in the holy spirits class you eventually are able to receiving his correction and conviction with gladness and joy and thus you learn and grow even more so in you journey in faith. Any good teacher makes a life impacting mark on his students even long after they graduate, it's funny how the great teachers continue to teach their students long after graduation huh?
Graduating from the enemies class however you no longer need his help to make yourself feel filthy and to see yourself as a sinful inadequate worm, you will have no problem in making yourself feel guilty and continuing to feel that way because after all like teacher like student.
The analogy of the classroom may be an unusual one but it is perfect to demonstrate the difference between the topics at hand. A good student doesn't only learn from a good teacher because a good student learns even from the horrible and mean ones, even a bad teacher like the enemy unwittingly teaches and helps a good student to grow and mature in faith if the student has an eye for learning. I myself one day would find such amazing joy if one day God turns me into a fantastic teacher like that, a kind of teacher who is almost like the holy spirit in the flesh meaning that I would teach and guide exactly as he does and that I could leave such profound impact on students that leave marks that continue to teach them far after graduation but for now I am simply a student with an eye for learning.
Nothing pains me more than seeing a person feeling like their to far gone and seeing themselves as nothing but a sinful disgusting worm because the enemy filled them with condemning guilt and sometimes they think it's the holy spirits conviction.
I want to make it clear which is and which isn't and how to learn and grow from both of them.
The holy spirits conviction The holy spirit when you are doing something you shouldn't will sometimes make you feel guilty and sometimes will press it on until you repent in your heart but not like the enemy does. The holy spirit's method is more like adding pressure until you realize that you need to change your direction. The conviction of the holy spirit is not to make us feel bad or to tear us down it is to lead us guide and direct us, his only goal in his conviction is to help you to grow and mature as a believer and to lead you to the way of cleanliness and repentance he never in no way wants us to look down on ourselves or think of ourselves less in any way. Just like a good teacher he knows the potential of his students and instructs them in how he knows best and since each student is different and has different strengths and weaknesses and has different problems at home (within ourselves) he uses different methods to convict and to instruct them but he never tears them down or makes them feel low he simply shows where they are in error and how to correct it.
Condemning guilt from the enemy Now the enemy would love for believers to confuse his teachings with the holy spirits, think of him as detention teacher with a ruler in his hand ready to slam it on your desk make sure to tell you everything you do wrong is so miserable with his own life he lavishes making you feel horrible. You actually can learn from even this, in learning how he teaches you thus learn how different his teachings are from the holy spirits. He is aggressive and badgering he won't just make sure you know what you did wrong he will keep on that making sure that you continue to feel awful about what you did even after repenting. He is the kind of teacher who gives pop quizzes you haven't studied for just to see you fail and he cannot be reasoned with.
He will make you feel filthy and dirty and make you look down on yourself and hopefully even make you learn to attack yourself every time you screw up. You see like any student in a class you eventually graduate in the holy spirits class you eventually are able to receiving his correction and conviction with gladness and joy and thus you learn and grow even more so in you journey in faith. Any good teacher makes a life impacting mark on his students even long after they graduate, it's funny how the great teachers continue to teach their students long after graduation huh?
Graduating from the enemies class however you no longer need his help to make yourself feel filthy and to see yourself as a sinful inadequate worm, you will have no problem in making yourself feel guilty and continuing to feel that way because after all like teacher like student.
The analogy of the classroom may be an unusual one but it is perfect to demonstrate the difference between the topics at hand. A good student doesn't only learn from a good teacher because a good student learns even from the horrible and mean ones, even a bad teacher like the enemy unwittingly teaches and helps a good student to grow and mature in faith if the student has an eye for learning. I myself one day would find such amazing joy if one day God turns me into a fantastic teacher like that, a kind of teacher who is almost like the holy spirit in the flesh meaning that I would teach and guide exactly as he does and that I could leave such profound impact on students that leave marks that continue to teach them far after graduation but for now I am simply a student with an eye for learning.
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