B. DEVELOPING CONVICTIONS

A pastor preached about convictions. He stated that “a conviction is something you believe so much that you practice it in your life.” He stated that some believers have many beliefs, but they don’t practice them in their lives. John was asked after the service if he had a conviction about prayer. He quickly responded, “Of course, I believe in prayer.” The next questions were, “How is your prayer life going and deepening your relationship with God? His answer revealed his lack of conviction. He answered, “It is not going so well. I am so busy that I don’t have time to pray. Maybe I will get better in the future. “The reality is that he does not have convictions. This creates a false belief that this quality is in their lives when it is only in their minds but not in action.

In 2 Timothy 3:10-11 Paul describes areas of conviction that he had. Look for them.

¹⁰You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, ¹¹persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.

Reading the above passage, please note the areas of conviction that we will coach. Select one of these areas to discuss and coach:

• Teaching
• My way of life
• My purpose
• My faith
• My patience
• My love
• My endurance
• My persecutions
• My sufferings (What happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, Lystra)

1. Which of these areas is clear to you?

2. Which areas need to be worked on?

3. Let’s pick one and see what our current reality is.

4. Write it out, then determine what you would like it to be.

5. See the gap and decide on one step that will help you move forward in that step.

Now read 2 Timothy 3:12-17 and describe the situation that Paul was in:

¹²In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³ while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵ and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Remember 2 Peter 1:8:

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. In verse 14, what does Paul urge Timothy to do?

2. “Continue in what you have learned,” How do you do that?

3. What does it mean to “Be convinced of”?

1. How do you go about building a conviction?

2. What can be the source of building a conviction?

3. Who helped you from your past to build a conviction?

4. How does the Bible help you build your convictions? See vs. 16, 17

5. What will happen in your life if you build these convictions? Vs. 17

1. What is the area?

2. Where are you in your present conviction? (Remember, a conviction is something you believe so much that you will practice it in your life.)

3. Where do you want to be in this conviction?

4. What does the Scripture teach about this area of life?

1. What steps will you begin taking to build this conviction?

2. Who will you share this with?

3. How will you allow the Holy Spirit to coach you forward in your action steps?

4. What can I do to help you carry out your plan?

1. What is the most important part of this lesson to you? Explain.

2. How do you see applying aspects of this lesson to your life?

3. When do you feel would be the best time to make that application?

4. What do you hear the Lord speaking to you about this right now?