“Now the purpose of the
commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere
faith.”—1 Timothy 1:5
Perhaps you have asked someone a
question and their response was, “Let
your conscience be your guide.” Although
in the English language this is a well-known expression, it is not necessarily
good advice. The reason why is because
your “moral compass” is only as reliable as the principles with which you have
programmed it. If you store up proper
biblical instruction and training, it will be dependable to help safeguard you
through life. But using false ideologies
from popular culture to program your conscience will set you up for moral failure.
God has given each person a conscience
as a gift intended to be a tool of the Holy Spirit who is our true Guide. And as such, it is designed to protect you
from going astray. You can trust it only
when the following seven statements are true of you.
1.
Jesus
Christ is your Savior and Lord.
2.
The
Bible is the basis for your conduct.
3.
You
have a strong desire to obey God.
4.
You
make decisions prayerfully.
5.
Your
conscience sounds the alarm when you consider a wrong direction in thought or
action.
6.
You
feel guilty when you disobey.
7.
You
feel compelled to repent of your disobedience.
A trustworthy conscience reacts
immediately to disobedience. There is no
making excuses and no waffling over whether or not something may have been
wrong.
To develop a reliable conscience,
read and apply scripture so that God’s principles will override any prior bad
programming. Then, under the Holy
Spirit’s guidance, it will sound protective alerts and be a effective tool for
leading you.
Prayer—Father
I thank You that You have given me a conscience to help lead me. I ask You to help train my conscience so that
it becomes refined instrument for the Holy Spirits use, to help lead and guide
me, in Jesus Name. Amen.
