Consciences Within Us
Chuckle: "God does not believe in atheists; therefore atheists do not
exist."
Quote: "A man who loses his conscience has nothing
left that is worth keeping." --Izaak Walton
"So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and
man" (Acts 24:16 NIV). "I speak the truth in Christ -- I am not
lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit" (Romans
9:1 NIV).
"A mother was helping her son with his spelling assignment and
came to the words 'conscious and 'conscience.' When she asked him if he knew the
difference between the two, he responded, 'Sure, Mom, 'conscious' is when you
are aware of something and 'conscience' is when you wish your
weren't.'"
The human conscience is a complex
subject indeed. We often hear such statements as: "Let your conscience be your
guide;" "My conscience is clear;" "I did it with a clear conscience;" "I can
sleep well at night;" or "My conscience is bothering me." Sometimes, we see
someone do a terrible thing and we react with: "Don't you have a conscience?"
In Scripture, the word for
conscience is "that faculty by
which we apprehend the will of God, as that which is designed to govern our
lives." Hence we feel a sense of guiltiness before God when we
sin against him. The Holy Spirit guides the Christian conscience in knowledge
and emotion.
The Spirit controlled conscience
results in a process of thought which distinguishes what it considers morally
good or bad, commending the good, condemning the bad, and so prompting us to do
the good and avoid the bad. As we grow in our faith, our consciences become
progressively more sensitive to the will of God. If you have occasion to
question whether an action is right or wrong, it's probably wrong in the sight
of God. Otherwise, your conscience would have allowed you to do it without
question.
Have you ever done something after
having rationalized that it was not a sin, but you felt a sense of guilt from
having done it anyway. As a Christian, when you sin against another person or
against God, you will have this miserable feeling of guilt and sorrow. That's
because your conscience is being influenced by the Holy Spirit that dwells
within you, and is being sensitized to even the nuances of right and wrong. As
you allow the Spirit to control your life, your conscience will become
increasingly reliable as your moral guide. It could be said that God's Word and
the Holy Spirit become the conscience of a Christian.
Love, Jerry &
Dotse
posted by Jerry and Dotse @ 8:18 PM
1 Comments
1 Comments:
Hello Pastor Jerry and Dotse. I am also a Pastor from Mumbai, India. I am glad to stop by your profile on the blogger and the blog post. I am also blessed and feel privileged and honoured to get connected with you as well as know you and about your experience in Army and in the ministerial capacity. I love getting connected with the people of God and specially those who are in the Pastoral ministry in any denomination globally to be encouraged, strengthened and praying for one another. I have been in the ministry for last 39 yrs in this great city of Mumbai a city with a great contrast where richest of rich and the poorest of poor live. We reach out to the poorest of poor with the love of Christ to bring healing to the brokenhearted. We also encourage young and the adults from the west to come to Mumbai to work with us during their vacation time. We would love to have young people coming to Mumbai to work with us during their vacation time. I am sure they will have a life changing experience. God wiling I will be coming to the States in the month of March and will be so glad to stop by your place and meet you and share more about our ministry in the city of Mumbai. My email id is: dhwankhede(at)gmail(dot)com and my name is Diwakar Wankhede. Looking forward to hear from you very soon. God's richest blessings on you and your ministry.
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