Conscience – important in Loving Freely.

Conscience – important in Loving Freely.

He knew better . . . but he wanted her. It had been a long time since he had seen a woman who did to him what she did—it had been a long time since someone had that effect on him. He felt lust race through his body, even the skin on his neck was taut just thinking of touching her. But then a white-hot shock shot through him—it was a warning: ‘what you are feeling is wrong--you are treading on dangerous ground. Turn around now before you do something you will regret’.

What was the white-hot shock? Conscience. conscience: an inner feeling or voice acting as a guide to the rightness or wrongness of one's behavior1.

King David ignored the prick of his conscience and acted on his desire for Bathsheba. The results were disastrous. And then, he could not get away from his accusing, guilty conscience. David’s thoughts recorded in a psalm: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+51&version=NIV&interface=print

Gosh, I can remember reading and praying Psalm 51 when I was a teenager, having done something I regretted, desperate to be freed from my guilt. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love;according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquityand cleanse me from my sin . . . Create in me a pure heart, O God,and renew a steadfast spirit within me . . . Restore to me the joy of your salvation.”2

Truly, I believe God gives us a conscience as a gift, and a key to our personal freedom. And something I have noticed: one of the things that can hinder love is a guilty conscience. Indeed, when our hearts and minds are murky with our wrongdoing, we are less free to love—either to give love freely or receive it. And the same is true in a church setting

Paul’s opening remarks in his letter to Timothy charge the young pastor to guard against false teaching coming into the church at Ephesus. The purpose of this instruction was so “all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.” verse 5. In other words, ‘Love should reign in your church, Timothy, and it will not if folks lack pure hearts, clear consciences or genuine faith.’

Those who were bringing erroneous and argumentative thinking into the church were not doing so from pure hearts. They had ulterior motives and hidden agendas that were injurious to the unity of the young believers. They could not have been operating from clear consciences.

Consider David again ~ a guilty conscience clouded David’s mind after he sinned. He had hurt the God he loved, he knew it, and everything in his life was upside down because of it: “Against you, you only, have I sinnedand done what is evil in your sight…”3 One can only imagine how it injured his personal relationships as well.

Paul had a good grasp of man’s conscience, for he wrote that ‘God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right’.4 And further, he knew that maintaining a clear conscience with both God and man is what is required of us who claim the name of Christ. "I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men.”5

How I thank God for the cleansing blood of Jesus, that sets us free from sin and guilt, setting our minds [our consciences] free! As the Scripture says, “Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.”6
I pray, O God, that you would prick our consciences about this principle Paul was teaching. That we would be your people
filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith . . . as individuals, and as churches or communities that bear your name. Amen.

1 – mac dictionary
2 – Psalm 51. , , ,
3 – Psalm 51.4
4 – Romans 2.15
5 – Acts 24.16
6 – Hebrews 9.14