God Reaches the Heart, the Spirit Convicts

Many times, we want to convince someone about God. We speak, explain, insist, and when the person does not understand, we feel frustration or guilt.

But there is a work that is not in our hands.

In John 16:8, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. This puts us in the right place. We can bear witness, love, speak truthfully, and live with consistency. But only God reaches the deepest place of the heart.

Faith loses its simplicity when we try to turn the Gospel into pressure. We also move away from the way of Jesus when we argue only to win a conversation.

The Holy Spirit touches where our words cannot reach. He reveals what the mind resists accepting. He shows sin without humiliation, leads into truth without force, and points to Christ with a clarity that begins within the soul.

This also examines us. Before desiring that God convince others, we need to allow Him to deal with our own heart. There are areas within us that still resist, justify wrong, and try to escape the light.

Every day, we need to ask the Holy Spirit for a sensitive heart. May He reveal Jesus in us and also reach those for whom we pray.

8 ‹And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:›