I’ve been thinking about what guides our actions as individuals and communities going forward. Every local and district government has some plans and bylaws in place as they seek to put those things in place that will keep us safe going forward.
On a personal, individual level folklore advises, "Let your conscience be your guide." This has serious limitations since our conscience can be wrongly programmed by our experiences and the values of the people around us. We need to renew our conscience so that it becomes a trustworthy mirror of the wisdom of God’s Word within us.
I do my level best to keep a clear conscience before God and my neighbors in everything I do. With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. Acts 24:16, Romans 9:1
From early childhood we’ve heard many twisted messages because of “fake news,” the half-truths of political spin, and the simple distortions that come from others as they speak from their limited perspective. There’s been no end to the conspiracy theories and fake news during these months of the pandemic.
There are deeper “false news messages” that are difficult for many of us as well. Sometimes people are incorrectly guided by false guilt which does not come from doing wrong but is a psychological guilt typically developed in early childhood. In the middle of efforts to escape abuse or violence, these persons’ consciences became seared by fear, self-hatred, and ugly words. Their actions reflect what they have come to believe.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide. 2 Timothy 1:7, NLT, Acts 24:16, 1 Corinthians 4:4
God wants to release us from the fear that has clouded our view of reality and damaged our conscience. Only God is wise enough to help us discern right from wrong and support us as we renew our minds with truth. God will guide us and help us in this work as we, one day at a time, maintain conscious contact with Him and surrender to His will.
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You are all about truth and right messages. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit who lives in us to guide us every day in every situation to know what is right and good.
In these moments we are asking You to reveal to us any false beliefs about ourselves, others, and the world around us that lead to false guilt, false fear, or inappropriate behaviour. Help us to reprogram our conscience and recognize truth in all our ways. Amen.
You have also created us to be moral beings. You have given us a conscience that, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, is intended to help us recognize when our behaviour is morally right or wrong.
Your Word reminds us: 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
Help us as we live in a world that has been infected and broken by sin. with kinds of false messages and ways of living that are contrary to Your way. We know how easily our conscience can gradually become corrupted and become an unreliable guide for direction for good in our daily lives.
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. Titus 1:15
Work in us today, Loving God, to restore our conscience to proper function according to Your truth. Help us to do our part in the process by feeding our minds with Your word and choosing for Your way each time our thinking and Your word differ.
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. When outsiders who have never heard of God’s law follow it more or less by instinct, they confirm its truth by their obedience. They show that God’s law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within them that echoes God’s yes and no, right and wrong. Psalm 119:105, Romans 2:14-15
Help us to listen to, and act on, the guidance of Your Holy Spirit so that we are filled with truth and once again have a reliable and good conscience. Amen
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