Let us improve our conscience in order to have a good and clear conscience. Conscience can be upgraded and be improved. There is a good conscience, an evil one so on and so forth. What is conscience then? There is no exact few words to explain it perfectly. Even Wikipedia’s conscience definition seems broad as well. Since it occurs universally from different views and perspectives. Though, in my own layman’s term to make it plain and short, conscience is your knowledge, wisdom and understanding of things, principles and beliefs. Thus aggregately, creating a system in you… Conscience will directly assist you in your thoughts, judgments and actions. I simply put it as “it is who you really are” and the inner you that makes you – you.
Hebrews 11:13 NIV – Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.
1 Timothy 1:19 KJV – Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
Any action cannot be judged righteously without considering their clear conscience
A naturally good deed is externally right but it can be an immoral act too. Sharing and giving for instance are basically good actions. But being generous with hidden agenda and dark motives will make your conscience shady and not clear at all. Probably no one can see it, but God can. There is no way He will be pleased with you. Instead, it will just make Him furious and be annoyed. You are now deemed guilty and punishable.
Given the situation about the clear conscience:
Where you found a wallet full of cash and you saw a distressed and distraught man roaming around. He seems as if he is uneasily looking for something on the ground. He looks exactly like the photo ID inside the wallet that you found a few minutes ago. What will you do with the wallet and cash? You needed cash direly since the rent is a couple of months due and your baby’s formula milk was unfilled for the past two nights. How would you react and think given the situation. God led you to the wallet and it is His way of helping and saving you. God is so good. His help is always on time. Or should you return and find the owner right away, since the wallet was never yours in the first place. You will never be able to live peacefully against your principles. Keeping the wallet was one thing but taking pleasure with it while watching the real owner looking all over the place is a different side of the story. How you react and respond to the situation is partly or wholly that is who you really are. Conscience is at work wether we like it or not. As there is an act there is an exact opposite judgment that awaits us.
You can escape the law but you can not escape your own conscience. You may argue and try to justify you actions in your own mind but conscience is – it is, what it is. It is plainly accurate and fairly inexcusable individually. You can not deny the feeling of guilt or pleasure whatever the case maybe.
Romans 2:15 – Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another
A clear conscience should be our guide to follow in such instances.
It is not necessarily the laws because there is no explicit laws written for specific cases and individuals. Each and every situation is different and unique. General philosophies and morally accepted truths may not apply literally to each and everyone. Therefore, conscience is the most effective law in ourselves. We always carry it with us and we don’t need to worry about forgetting it. We already know it by heart and soul. We know and understands its consequences. We individually process things differently but conscience can adjust in split seconds and has the ability to haunt us for the rest of our lives. While governing laws of our land takes so much time to perfect it. It may need dozens of revisions and decades or centuries of observations and explorations.
Titus 1:15 – Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
If conscience can be defiled then it can be cleansed and purified as well. You can improve your conscience by correcting your way of thinking directly by enhancing your wisdom and learning things the right way – the Bible way. You know what I mean…
May our Lord Jesus Christ bless you today.