God really wants us to be so in tune with Him that when He speaks something to our heart—an area that we need to change to be more like Him—we listen to Him and straighten up immediately.


God really wants us to be so in tune with Him that when He speaks something to our heart—an area that we need to change to be more like Him—we listen to Him and straighten up immediately. If we would change when the Holy Spirit convicts us, maybe we wouldn't have to go through embarrassing confrontations with people.

You can tell when the Holy Spirit is convicting you. Jesus said in John 16:8 that the Holy Spirit would come and convict the world of sin. God is constantly trying to refine our heart, our mind, and our life to be more pure. As He convicts us of things in our heart, we have to look at our first response.

Some people say, "Well, no one else knows I'm doing this, so it's really no big deal. It's not harming anyone. I'm okay. That was just my mind telling me it was wrong." No, it was the Holy Spirit saying, "You know what, I want to make you more like Jesus." But when He begins to convict your heart of something and you put it off, you get a little bit harder and a little bit harder each time you ignore Him.

Some people think as long as other people don't see them sinning, then they're not doing anything wrong. But if you want a face-to-face encounter with God, you've got to make sure your heart is completely clean and completely right all the time.

You can't have the attitude of, "Hey, I haven't done anything really wrong. I haven't robbed any banks today. I guess I'm doing pretty good."

There's a level of purity and a level of holiness that goes far deeper in your heart than what anyone will ever see. That is what God's wanting to get to on a regular basis—to reach way down deep into your heart to constantly refine it and purify it. That's what keeps you real with Him.

So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.
(Acts 24:16)
Paul lived with a clean heart and a clean life. Whenever his heart was convicted, he immediately repented and got things right.

Living this way doesn't mean that you're perfect, but you can have a "perfect" heart. If you will constantly let the Holy Spirit clean it out and refine it, He can develop a pure and perfect heart within you.

This is not to say that you should struggle with the same sin for the rest of your life! Once God has forgiven you, He forgets all about it. After God convicts your heart about something and you repent and He cleanses you, you'll be stronger in that area and go on.

Then He will convict your heart about something else and you'll get stronger and stronger in that area. So you go from glory to glory, becoming more and more like Jesus every day for the rest of your life.

As you continue to read your Bible and pray today, ask God, "What is it about my life You want me to pray about? In what areas of my life do You want me to become more like You?" Then just listen. As thoughts come up from your spirit, that's the Holy Spirit beginning to deal with you about certain areas, attitudes or the way you talked to someone yesterday.

Ask Him to give you wisdom and direction about how to deal with anything He shows you if you don't know.

Purpose in your heart that your first response to the Holy Spirit's conviction is repentance. When someone talks to you about sin, be one who humbles himself and immediately repents. You are on the right path to having a very real encounter with Jesus today!

Source: Spiritual Shock Treatment by Ron Luce.
Excerpt permission granted by Teen Mania Ministries