THE IMPORTANCE OF A CLEAR CONSCIENCE

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The human spirit can endure in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?

The human spirit is the lamp of the Lord that sheds light on one’s inmost being.

Proverbs 18:14, 20:27    

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

If someone asked you to explain a conscience, what would you tell them?

You might start by explaining that a conscience is that sense of knowing the difference between right and wrong as you choose to do things in life. Your conscience is sort of your moral compass, your guide which ensures you are honest and ethical.

This might suffice but often you might get this follow up question:

How does it happen? In other words, explain the process within a person that activates conscientiousness?

How would you answer?

I remember taking a college psychology class once and the professor was talking about the human brain and its functionality, how certain parts of the brain control perform different functions. And so I asked him the questions above:

Can you tell me what a conscience is and how that happens within the brain?

He was at a loss to answer my question, unaware of any scholarly research that had been done on the matter, especially regarding brain functions that could result conscientiousness. Science had not found a tangible explanation for the phenomena.

Perhaps this is because there is no tangible explanation for conscientiousness. In other words, how do you provide tangible evidence of something that is spiritual in nature?

I say that consciousness is spiritual in nature because God’s word tells us so. Look at the following proverb:

The human spirit is the lamp of the Lord that sheds light on one’s inmost being. Proverbs 20:27

I remember back to some of the cartoons I watched as a child. One such cartoon involved a character pondering an action that had two options. One option was good; the other bad. As the character thought about what they should do, a little white angel would pop up on one shoulder and speak to the character encouraging them to select the option that led to doing what was right. As soon as that angel stopped speaking, “Poof!”, a little red devil would pop up on the opposite shoulder and try and convince the character to do the wrong thing.

It was cute and funny. It was also closer to what really happens than we may want to admit.

You see the Lord is always active in trying to lead us the wrong way. He created and installed a human spirit within us, a spirit by which He looks into our innermost being to ensure there is no wrong way within us. Nothing is hidden because the human spirit is the lamp of the Lord. Everything is illuminated as the lamp of the Lord shines brightly within us - every thought, every plan, and every motivation. Anything not in step with the Lord’s will and way will result in another happening that people have trouble explaining: conviction.

Conviction is the activation of conscientiousness, alerting us that what we are about to do or what we have already done is or was wrong. It’s that little white angel on our shoulder trying to lead us toward righteousness and we would be well served to pay attention and comply so that we can live through the days that we’re granted with a clear conscience, a conscience free from guilt over sinful actions we have committed.

This is a critical point. Because when one does not choose to follow the Lord’s guidance, when they opt to shun the lead of the conscience, they fall into a place where they are terrorized by their culpability and faults. They fall into a place where they find their human spirit crushed and that’s not a place anyone should want to be. Look at this proverb:

The human spirit can endure in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear? Proverbs 18:14

Is this truth or what?

I have had many times when I was ill and although those times were not fun, I endured, made it through, and was restored to full health.

I have also had a time in life when I found my spirit crushed, a time when I was hurt so badly that I was unsure whether I would ever recover. The emotional pain I was under was unbearable. It seemed like there was no light, only darkness in my soul.

What happened to change that?

It took clearing my conscience, recognizing the area of my life that needed changing, the area where the lamp of the Lord was shining. When I chose to allow that light to lead me out of sin (not following the Lord) and into righteousness (entering fully into a relationship with Him), everything changed and I have never looked back.

Today, I cherish and embrace my conscience. I rejoice in it because I know it is the lamp of the Lord within me, shining into my innermost parts to lead me in the light of righteousness and expose any sin and evil that needs purged.

The outcome is that I can live with a clear conscience, understanding that if I follow the lead of the Lord’s light I can remain that way and avoid the affliction that a crushed spirit brings on my soul.

My prayer for you today is that you will always heed the guidance of your conscience, knowing that it is the Lord’s way of steering our lives down the narrow path of righteousness, the path that leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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