It’s one thing to be trained to do what’s right. It’s another thing entirely to want to do right and to do so even when no one else will find out. This statement, of course, presupposes that there is a right and wrong, and that we can know which is which. I’m going to make the assumption that what the Bible teaches as right and true is actually right and true. How I go from knowing right to choosing to want to do right is a matter of developing and paying attention to a godly conscience.
One important incident in the development of my conscience happened the Christmas I was eight. My friend Carol and I had asked for matching antebellum dolls for Christmas. We spent hours fantasizing on how we would play together with those dolls.
I couldn’t wait for Christmas to see if I’d actually get what I wished for. One day when my mom was busy doing laundry in the basement, my curiosity couldn’t stand any more waiting. I snuck into her room. I knew she always hid gifts in her closet. I searched the closet, but found nothing that looked like it could be my doll. “The bed. Maybe she hid it under the bed.” Sure enough. In an unwrapped box lay the doll of my dreams. It was true. Carol and I really were going to have those matching dolls!
My mom is an expert detective. She always knows if someone has been in a room in her house. The slightest item out of place always gives the intruder away. I think she must have known I was scrounging around in her room. However, neither she nor Dad ever said anything about it.
“Oh, she’s so beautiful!” I tried to sound surprised and excited on Christmas Eve as I opened my new doll. The truth was, I had a terrible feeling in my stomach. I discovered that it’s no fun to find out what your gifts are ahead of time. I didn’t like the fact that I’d been a sneak, and now had to lie to cover it up. I made up my mind never to sneak into my parent’s room again. I never did.
No amount of punishment inflicted by my parents would have been nearly as effective in changing my behavior as was the development of my own conscience. I knew I had done wrong, and I didn’t like the guilt I felt. It kept me from even considering doing the same thing again.
Of course there are larger adult sins that rightfully leave us feeling guilty. The solution isn’t just to ignore the guilt and purpose never to do the deed again. When we confess to God, and any humans we’ve wronged if necessary, He gives forgiveness. Jeremiah 31:33 and 34 says, “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” We live in that new covenant age because Jesus paid for all our sins. When they are confessed, God remembers our sins no more.
God even goes one better. He puts His instructions deep within us and writes them on our hearts. We’re not left to guess what pleases God in any circumstance. His Bible tells us all we need to know, and the Holy Spirit is what speaks to our hearts to remind us what is true. Some may have never read the Bible, but they were created by God to KNOW what is right. “Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.”(Romans 2:14 & 15; NLT)
The question is, what do we as individuals do when our own consciences start accusing us? If we respond to our guilt by rationalizing, “everybody does it,” or “it’s no big deal,” we stuff our guilty feelings inside and ignore them. It will take more and more serious offenses against God’s standards to produce feelings of guilt in the future. If the guilt keeps being stuffed, we end up with a seared conscience that does not serve us well. Titus 1:15 and 16 is pretty blunt. “Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted. Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.”
Such people may enjoy their way of life and not desire to seek to change. Others go spiraling down a destructive path one small step at a time. Others, may not know that they can seek and experience forgiveness and have the opportunity to start over clean. The rationale goes something like: “I’ve already lost my virginity (for example). There’s nothing I can do about it so I might as well keep ignoring my conscience and take my actions to the next level.” These people feel they are bad because they behave badly. They’ve lost hope that they can experience God’s forgiveness. They illustrate 1 Timothy 1:19a, “For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked.”
How do you recover when you feel your faith has been shipwrecked? The only way to start is found in Hebrews 10:22: “let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.” “Coming clean’” in God’s presence, asking Jesus to cover our sins with His blood (That means that Jesus’ shed blood on the cross is the only sacrifice acceptable to God for our sins. When we admit this, His blood “covers” our sins.) and then trusting that He really has made us clean gives us the privilege of starting over with our faith intact.
We don’t need to live feeling condemned. “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.” (Romans 8:1,2; NLT) If you’re having trouble feeling forgiven, even when you know it’s true, I’d encourage you to memorize these verses and tell them to yourself over and over whenever you’re feeling condemned. Eventually the truth from your head will sink into your heart, and you can be grateful for your “start over.”
The next step after forgiveness in the start over process is to re-train the conscience. Proverbs 3 is a wonderful poem of instructions to us. Verses 1-4 say:
1 My son, do not forget my teaching,
but keep my commands in your heart,
2 for they will prolong your life many years
and bring you peace and prosperity.
3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.
Peace of mind is possible if we write God’s teachings on our heart and respond when our consciences give us a warning. The more we are able to respond correctly to our consciences by choosing what’s right even when no one is looking, the more we will be able to enjoy our good name in the sight of God and man. I had the following verse as my vision statement all the years I was teaching. I intend to see that it’s written permanently on my heart as well.
“The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.” (1 Timothy 1:5)
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