24: Only One Holy Spirit

Key Passage

And when He (the Spirit) comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.

John 16:8

From the 20 Practices of Disciplemakers:

A mistake I have frequently made in my sincere desire to see disciples mature is to try to 'persuade' people towards holiness. At worst, this is manipulation, trying to bring a revelation of sin rather than a revelation of Jesus.

There is only one Holy Spirit.

It is the Spirit's role to bring conviction of sin. Human efforts bring the shadow version of this: condemnation.

There are a few ways that I see the Holy Spirit bringing conviction, and these are some of the keys to discipling well: the first is through our conscience. Discipling people towards having a soft (contrite) heart towards God allows our conscience to be attentive to God. Secondly, the Spirit works by activating the power of the Word in our hearts. Discipleship should always involve active engagement in Scripture. Lastly, I have found question-asking to be invaluable to create space in allowing the Holy Spirit to 'speak' through the natural processing time it creates for revelation.

Be slow to give answers and quick to ask them to process with the Holy Spirit.