The power of our conscience

DAILY BIBLE READING:

1 Samuel 24:1–25:44 
John 10:22-42 
Psalm 116:1-19 
Proverbs 15:20-21

BIBLE VERSE(S) FOR TODAY:

1 Samuel 24:5 "Afterward, David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the corner of Saul’s robe."

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

In our Verse for Today, the word "conscience" appears. It is that part of us that sounds the alarm when we believe that we have done something wrong. And it is so powerful that it may cause us to subconsciously put off some signals that others may notice. (I wrote a post "Symptoms of a Guilty Conscience" in July 2011 and it continues to be accessed every day. It currently has 5,421 pageviews. People are definitely interested in what the conscience can do!)

Rather than write a post on the conscience, I will simply create a list of some of the notions I have (peppered with Scripture) about this powerful force that resides in each of us:

• Conscience is the "voice" inside our head that lets us know when we have cross a moral line and done something we believe to be wrong.
• Conscience is something that Jesus-followers and non-Jesus-followers have.
• Conscience is essentially God's law written on our hearts (see Romans 2:15).
• Conscience cannot be explained by the evolutionary worldview. This theory of origins cannot explain why humans feel utterly guilty when they do something they believe to be wrong even when they have never been told that it was wrong. (However, a belief in a divine, moral Creator aligns perfectly with the presence of a conscience.)
• Conscience is NOT the Holy Spirit. However, the Holy Spirit works with our conscience to convict us when we sin.
• Some people shut down their conscience so that they are no longer bothered by what is sinful (1 Timothy 4:2).
• The conscience can and should be trained by daily, meaningfully significant study and meditation upon God's Word.
• Our conscience is not the ultimate authority. We may be innocent even though our conscience bothers us and we may be guilty even though our conscience feels clear (see 1 Corinthians 4:4).

Our conscience had be incredibly helpful in our walk with the Lord. It is the light on the dashboard that illuminates when something is wrong. So, inform it by being a student of God's Word. And then live according to God's Word while, secondarily, listening to your conscience.