Table of Contents
Universal understanding of convictions
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All human beings possess the common trait which is convictions. We all have convictions whether those convictions are true or false, wrong or right that is another story. Convictions regulates and controls behavior. In short behavior is the by-product of convictions. Whatever a person’s behavior, how we respond to circumstances, situation, trouble, difficulties is a reflection of our convictions. Our worldview and reality is seen through our convictions. Convictions dictate our relationship with other people and how we socialize in the community.
“A no uttered from a deepest conviction is better than a yes merely uttered from the conviction to please or even worse to avoid a problem or situation”
Mahatma Ghandi.
Conviction determines how we treat our spouse, children, workers, relatives and everybody. Terrible things that we see in the world, for example, a husband to burning his wife or a mother who who throws hot water on her step son is pure reflection of her convictions springing from wrong beliefs. Convictions controls leadership power, and godly convictions protect people from abuse. Convictions can build and destroy the world.
Conviction means:
- The state of being fixed or having strong belief.
- The state of being convinced and confident that something is true.
- Strong persuasion or belief.
- A belief in rightness.
- Perception of reality
- That what one holds to be true.
The source of conviction
The source of conviction is your belief. Conviction comes from belief. All human being have a certain belief system which they live by. Your convictions will come from whatever you believe. Belief determine the quality of your conviction. If your belief system is right and true, your convictions also will be right and true.
The source of belief
The most powerful force that every human being possess is the power of belief. The source of belief is an idea. Ideas determine the quality of belief. If your ideas are corrupt, your belief system will be corrupt also. Paul says “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” Your belief will come from whatever you have been hearing. Whosoever is speaking to you all the time that person or a thing is giving you an idea. Whether you have received those ideas by learning, reading a book, from watching a move or from your friends, those ideas will eventually become your belief, if repeated over and over. Ultimately, there is something more important than ideas and that is the source of ideas. The source determines the quality, reliability, validity and durability. Your ideas are only as good as the source. Since the God of the Scripture is the only one good, his thoughts are trustworthy for one to hold on as belief .
If the source of your ideas is evil, your thoughts will be evil thoughts, your thinking will be evil, your belief system will become futile, your convictions will be futile, your deeds will be evil deeds, your acts will be violent acts and ruin and destruction will mark your ways.
A solid belief is the source of strong convictions that leads one to having a life that endures circumstances
Unwavering, solid, stable and fixed belief in God and his promises in Christ is the mother of strong conviction. Strong Convictions founded in truth control the consistency of the conscience of a person on what one should not compromise. If your belief is unchanging no matter what the situation may be, you will be considered a person with Honorable convictions and that will cause people to respect you as a leader and trust your leadership.
The only faith that wears well and holds its color in all weathers is that which is woven of conviction and set with the sharp mordant of experience.
James Russell Lowel
a) Conviction gives courage in times of troubles
Leaders with deep convictions do not move when problems comes their way because they don’t make decisions based on emotions but based on what they are convinced with.
Jesus said “No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.” Jesus received a commandment from His Father that even when they kill him, He is going to rise from the dead, because of this conviction He had no fear of death when he was threatened by people. Conviction gives courage in times of troubles.
b)Convictions gives definition of what is important to the leader
Belief defines what is important to the leader. If a leader has true and deep conviction about the value of people, he is going to treat them in a special way. Whatever you believe shows what is important to you. If you believe that marriage is important to you, you cannot commit adultery. Jesus says “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” Where your deep conviction is, there is what you cherish and nourish.
c)Wrong convictions leads to destruction
Conviction is the foundation of leadership philosophy. Whatever the leader believes will manifest in government. Every government is literally a victim of the conviction of leaders in it. If the convictions of the leader are wrong, the nation will experience turmoil, persecution and terrorism. Terrorism is a fruit of a deep conviction in the heart of a leader.
Jesus says
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.
Matthew 12:33-35
Let me paraphrase what Jesus was quiet saying concerning leadership convictions, if your leadership convictions are good, your leadership will be good or your behavior toward people will be good, or if your leadership convictions are bad, wrong and false your governance will be. For leadership is coming from the convictions of the leader. How can you with evil convictions have good leadership? For out of your abundance of the deep conviction in your heart, your leadership come from. A good leadership comes out from the good treasure of the leader’s good convictions and evil leadership comes from wrong or evil treasure of the leader’s convictions.
Paul of tarsus describes some of the wrong convictions which most leaders possess. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful (Romans 1:29). If a leader is filled with the convictions listed above, then the result of such a leader will be what Isaiah says. Their feet run to do evil, and they rush to commit murder. They think only about sinning. Misery and destruction always follow them (Isaiah 59:7).
d) A pure conviction doesn’t accept injustice
Matthew 5:8. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
A leader who have pure convictions doesn’t discriminate and mistreat his people. Justice, equality and fairness will be the belt of his/her leadership. A godly leader believes that all men a equal and are created in the image of God. All men possess same value and they deserve to be loved deeply.
A leader with pure convictions doesn’t rejoice when his/her people face challenges. Martin Luther king Jr is one of the leaders who stood on his knees when his people of Alabama were mistreated. He fought against the injustice that his people were facing in the city. He said
I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.
Martins Luther king Jr
Abraham Lincoln is other leader who fought against the issue of slavery trade in his nation. Because his conviction were pure, he considered slavery as wrong and injustice. He said this to his people “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.” He continued to say “slavery is wrong! Black people should be free in America.” When the people of South Africa were treated like animals, Nelson Mandela stood and fought against the apartheid. He said “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society, in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunity.” Their convictions were pure, right and true.
e) Convictions are beliefs that do not allow the leader to be quiet even when they face threats and opposition.
leaders with convictions grounded in truth are not afraid of rejections because of their belief. They cherish it more. Leaders with convictions do not get despair even when they face threats and opposition. They speak out what they believe to be true. Peter and John are kind of the leaders who faced threats from their people. As they were preaching the good news of the resurrection of their king Jesus and inviting people everywhere to turn from their sins and wicked ways. The leaders in that time called a board meeting on how they are going to do to stop them(the disciples) from their convictions “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it. But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them that from now on they speak to no man in this name.” So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them,” Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”
Leaders with godly convictions find their strength in the one they have believed in and speak boldly the truth even when their lives is at risk.
f) Conviction is willingness to die for what you believe to be true and right
There comes a time when you stand up on what you believe even if nobody joins.
Stephen Mupewa Nawa (New life Church pastor).
Leaders with true convictions have made contract with death already in their mind. Leaders with conviction are willingly to die because of their convictions. No matter what they go through, to them is not a big deal. They cannot do otherwise. Consider what Nelson Mandela said concerning the freedom of his people “It is an ideal which I hope to live for and achieve. But, if need be, my Lord, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” He was willing not only to go to prison for 27 years but to lose his life for the sake of what he believed to be true.
Abraham Lincoln was willing also to die because of his conviction about slavery. He said this concerning his belief “I have said nothing but what I am willing to live by and, if it be the pleasure of Almighty God, to die by” and he was killed for his belief.
Jeremiah was also one of the leaders in ancient time who stood on his belief and was willing to give up his life for what he believed to be right. The Lord God told him to go and speak to the people of Israel to remind them of their transgression and the evil that God was planning to bring.
So when the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. When Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You will surely die! Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without an inhabitant’?” And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord. When the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and sat down in the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house. And the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and all the people, saying, “This man deserves to die! For he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears.” Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and all the people, saying: “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city with all the words that you have heard. Now therefore, amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God; then the Lord will relent concerning the doom that He has pronounced against you. As for me, here I am, in your hand; do with me as seems good and proper to you.
Jeremiah 26:8-13
g) Conviction is beliefs that gives a leader courage to stand before his enemies and still refuses to compromise
There is no amount of money that equal the value of genuine conviction. Leaders with true convictions believe that their convictions are priceless. Even when you promise them positions, titles and promotions in expense of compromising their belief they will never accept. Leaders with strong belief are so courageous whereby they can stand before their enemies and refuses to compromise their convictions. Their courage enables them to speak out the wicked of their enemies in their face.
This reminds me of three young Hebrew leaders who were taken into captivity in Babylon. The culture and traditions of the people of the land of Babylon they were in was to worship idols of creatures made by human hands and these three young Hebrew leaders to them that was abomination. It was against their belief. The king of Babylon made a statute and commanded every man to bow down to that image. The king made a decree that any person who doesn’t worship the image will be thrown into the burning furnace. Because worshiping of idol was against their convictions, the three young Hebrew leaders refused to accept the decree. The king was full of indignation, he called them to find out why they were not bowing down to the idol. These three young Hebrew leaders whose names are Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. They refused to compromise even when they were promised to be thrown into the lake of fire because they had confidence in their God. And from that moment they were promoted. Convictions grounded in the truth of Almighty God promotes a leader.
Convictions makes a leader to be remembered for forever
Convictions based in God’s truth makes a leader to live for eternity. We remember leaders who stood firm for their convictions and they were willing to die for it. Every leader in history whom we admire, like and love is because of their convictions they refused to compromise. If you compromise as a leader you will never be remembered, your name will be forgotten in history or remembered as an example as one ought not to follow.
In the age-old contest between popularity and principle, only those willing to lose for their convictions are deserving of next generation’s approval.
Gerald R. Ford
