From the Ivy League schools of Princeton, Yale, Duke, and Harvard that once educated young men to become ministers, to the motto “in God we trust” that is on our currency, the influence of the Gospel is evident in America. We can also observe the testimonies of transformed lives in the church. How did this message of a man and a cross reach us 2,000 years later? It required faithful men that were sold out to the Gospel; men that had deep convictions about who Jesus was (Son of God), what He did in their lives (made a way for salvation), and the purpose He stood for (spreading truth). To be a soldier of Christ that win souls and lives right, one must have conviction concerning faith.

Our nation once had a strong biblical foundation that made us strong, but the pull of the world has brought about many spiritual fatalities. The Bible makes many references to our faith in the context of warfare. In Ephesians Paul describes the armor of God. He also instructed Timothy to “fight the good fight.” If young men are falling out of the army of righteousness, that means they are not reaching the world. Even after experiencing God’s love, they are seduced by the world whether it is pornography, alcoholism, drugs addiction, or false doctrine. Conviction is the pillar that will sustain our walk with God and without it, we will be on the road to defeat.

May I remind someone the reality of this battle we face against the enemy? The Bible describes the enemy as one that is out to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). The world can be very seductive, especially for young men who may not feel the pressures of older men that have families and more responsibilities of the household. Some may have the mentality of I will live now and grow later which is dangerous thinking.

Conviction is defined as being convinced, or strong belief. The apostles had a deep conviction that Jesus was God and Savior and it drove them to the point of being martyred. Without the conviction that Jesus was the messiah, they could not have gone out and died for what they believed in, unless they were utterly insane. If we do not maintain the same convictions of the gospel and doctrine the apostles had, we will not influence the world as they did.

To get to the place where we can maintain our strong beliefs, we must:

1. Pray – Ask and ye shall receive (Matthew 21:22). Take time in prayer to ask God to instill or maintain your convictions regarding doctrine or faith. Pray for someone that is struggling.

2. Study – Study to shew thyself approved unto God (II Timothy 2:15). Knowing what you believe and why you believe it will help you fight doubt that weakens conviction. David also wrote that a secure knowledge of God’s word would keep a person from sinning (Psalm 119: 11).

3. Accountability- Iron sharpeneth iron (Proverbs 17: 7). We need to make sure the people we surround ourselves with are drawing us closer to God. As humans prone to error, we stumble and it help to have support. The Bible said with one, we can put 1,000 to flight, but with two, we can put 10,000 to flight (Deut. 32:20).

 “All the strength and force of man comes from his faith in things unseen. He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions.” – James Freeman Clarke

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