SHEPHERD TO SHEEP
A CONSCIENCE WITHOUT OFFENSE
(Acts 24:16)…I myself always strive to have a
conscience without offense toward God and men.
Conscience. That sense of right or wrong when an action
is performed. Inside us is a moral consciousness
that is God-given so we may always do the right thing and not have to be nagged
with a guilty feeling. We’ve all felt it from our first lie to modern
day. Our conscience will accuse us or
excuse us. It’s a gift and makes for a
soft pillow to sleep on at night.
Paul put it this way: (Rom
2:14-15) for when Gentiles, who do not
have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having
the law, are a law to themselves, 15 who show the work of the law written in
their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves
their thoughts accusing or else excusing them).
Well said Paul! Man is morally responsible because of his
capacity of choice. A conscience is like
a judge and it’s better to pay this lower court judge now than to have to answer
to God’s higher court when each of us stands before Him.
The Bible speaks of three types
of conscience:
A GOOD CONSCIENCE: (1 Tim
1:19) having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected,
concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck.
Paul was guided by this internal moral compass and it did him well
as he strove to be righteous before God and men.
A BAD CONSCIENCE: (1 Sam
24:5) Now it happened afterward that David's heart troubled him because he had
cut Saul's robe. The Holy Spirit
works with our conscience so we may always do those things that please
God. (Rom
9:1) I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me
witness in the Holy Spirit.
A SEARED CONSCIENCE: (1 Tim
4:1 2) Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from
the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking
lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron. Seared to means to brand or to cauterize. A person may deny their conscience repeatedly
to the point of not being able to listen to it anymore.
A man consulted a psychiatrist.
He complained, "I've been misbehaving, Doc, and my conscience is troubling
me." The doctor asked, "And you want something that will strengthen
your willpower?" The fellow replied, "Well, no, I was thinking of
something that would weaken my conscience."
A good conscience is a continual
Christmas. (Benjamin Franklin)
Louie
No comments:
Post a Comment