Do you realize just how fortunate and privileged you actually are to have one of these (a conscience)? Along with the ability to make our own choices in life, comes something really wonderful and unique—the conscience, and only we (mankind) possess this, out of all creation.
In our heavenly Father’s plan for us, having free will and a conscience go hand in hand with each other, and they are so intimately connected that they cannot be separated.
Having a conscience is an important part of this unique God-given ability that we all receive as human beings. Unique, because out of God’s creation, no other part of His creation has been given this wonderful and unique ability. None of the animals that roam the earth, the fish that swim in our oceans, the insects that crawl upon the ground, or the birds that fly through our skies (just to name a few).
So yes, you should feel both privileged and thankful for what God has provided so freely for everyone. We should acknowledge this in our hearts with appreciation and humility, by saying to ourselves , “Wow, this really is true.”
Essentially, a conscience is the checks and balance part of us that we have internally. To be able to discern for ourselves what is right and what is wrong; a reward and penalty system for our hearts, if you will. Our hearts are what makes us who we are inside, and more important, how the heavenly Father knows us through his crucified and risen Son, Jesus. Seriously, this is the One we all should be trying to impress as much as we can in our hearts.
When our conscience is working properly, we should feel remorse and disappointment in ourselves when we do something wrong, and personally experience sincere and genuine regret of our own actions. By doing so we will learn and remember for next time, and hopefully never to do it again.
It is only after we get back to the basics, and start to comprehend fully what a conscience actually is and what it means to us personally that we also begin to understand why we have one in the first place. This is the first step to properly recognizing and appreciating our heavenly Father’s benevolence toward us (which by the way has always been nothing but genuine and sincere), right from the very start.
There is no, say one thing mean another double talk ,when it comes to our heavenly Father. He is a straight shooter. The benefit of having this thing called a conscience becomes clearer as we get closer to Him, through his loyal and dedicated son, Jesus. His incredible blood, sweat and tears effort on this earth has made it possible for us to walk without blemish, with our heavenly Father.
Consider this: As God’s creation with a conscience we can reason in our own hearts at will. We are self-aware of our own existence and our own actions and also of the world in which we live. We possess foreseeability; that is to know the potential consequences of our own actions long before we act on them. We also have our own memories, so we can recall past experiences that we have gone through and learn from. We can make final judgments on all matters that come before us both small and great.
This is only a small part of the wonderful package that God has made available for each and every one of us to personally experience for ourselves. We only begin to fully understand why we were given this special gift, when we read God’s Word and grow in his knowledge.
Sadly, the important concept of “consequences of actions’ is not even being taught to our young and impressionable children in our schools these days. If it were, they would start to understand that having a conscience is a tremendous gift. And that the feelings of genuine remorse and disappointment that they experience when they do something wrong will make them stronger in the end. (So they will remember next time to never go down that same path again.) But rather gain in the incredible knowledge and mercies of our Lord as they travel down life’s long road, hopefully toward a salvation based viewpoint in their hearts.
Many of God’s creation have turned their backs on Him, by using their free will to make a conscious decision to turn off or nullify their own consciences completely— so it won’t bother them anymore. What a truly shameful and insulting waste this is before His face.
Repeating again what was stated toward the beginning of this article:
No other part of creation was ever given the wonderful ability (a conscience) except humans; so we should feel both privileged and thankful for what God has provided so freely for everyone.
Seriously, if we didn’t have a conscience, we would never be able to understand the concept of sin, and how it has affected the relationship we have with our Father in heaven (and with such devastating consequences for all of us and the rest of creation). We would never understand how sin has separated us from that which is perfect and without blemish.
These two questions are put before you:
What will you do with this incredible and thoughtful gift, knowing full well that no other part of creation possesses it.? Will you utilize it as it was originally intended?
Please use your conscience wisely and sensibly, learning from your own experiences, growing in the wonderful knowledge and mercies of our Lord, and fully appreciating what He has given you every single day; happily passing on what you have learned to your children as they are growing up.
Or will you treat your conscience with contempt as so many have already done in His sight, by making a conscious choice to turn it off or minimizing it; essentially squandering a truly wonderful gift so thoughtlessly and needlessly and in such a sad and wasteful manner.
Remember this:
God cares deeply enough to give us a conscience so we can all learn to appreciate what He has done for us through his Son’s personal sacrifice on the cross and resurrection from the dead. This is why all of us should fully return His love back to him, with all our hearts.
Just think, you could have been born as a lion roaming the plains of Africa, or as a penguin shivering on the Antarctic continent, or even as a tree growing on a lonely mountain top somewhere, or as a salmon swimming back up the waterways of Alaska, to mate.
The point is this: If you were not born as a human being, you would not even have this ability to understand and embrace what our Father in heaven has done for all of us. So yes, you absolutely should acknowledge Him fully, and with all the humility and gratitude that you can possibly muster.
There is an old adage that comes to mind that has been around for some years and that many will recognize. When someone is making a choice, there is a demon on their left shoulder trying to convince a person to take the evil path, and an angel on the right shoulder, advising with words of wisdom and patience, to take the righteous path.
The truth is this: Without heavenly guidance and wisdom from our Lord during the choice making times of our lives, we will fail miserably every time. We are flawed and imperfect by our own sinful natures; that is why we need to be as close as possible to our heavenly Father through His Son— the crucified and risen one. And diligently seek out his full wisdom and guidance in all the choices that we make. We must also remember to seek His wisdom and guidance with sincere humility and thankfulness in our hearts, and never with arrogance.
We should absolutely embrace the occupant of our right shoulder and what he is telling us, and seriously kick the one on our left shoulder off for good.
Sadly, it is also true to say that there are those who have tried to use this to deflect their own personal responsibilities away from themselves after they have been caught doing something wrong, by saying to anyone who will listen: “The devil made me do it!”
That particular statement will not make it in the Judgment day because everyone is responsible for their own actions and by their own free choices they are condemned. I think it would be fair to say, that Judgment day will either be a terrifying day or an exciting day; depending on what each individual chooses.
If you have already attained the wonderful blood bought sacrifice of Jesus, and all who have attained the same, will gather with you on that very exciting day with much gladness in our hearts.
If you choose to defy the gift of Jesus, his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, on that terrifying day, you will remember reading and dismissing this article with contempt. You have foreseeability— just as anyone else— so you know what can and will happen; so on that terrible day, you will not be able to say: “I didn’t know this was going to happen.”
To treat this wonderful gift from the Most High in this manner as some do by voluntarily minimizing it or turning it off so flippantly is so disrespectful to our Father in heaven. Quite a number of us are guilty of having “moments of madness” and sometimes we make choices in our lives quickly without giving thought to what the consequences might be. Remember, when that happens we need to get back to basics, listen to our own conscience that is telling us to stop for a minute and seek out Jesus for that all important guidance and wisdom that we all know He has, and wants to give to us freely.
Finally, let us all gladly acknowledge the amazing benevolence of our Father in heaven, who sits on his lofty throne high above all his creation, at the very summit of the heavens, across international borders and countries, across different time zones throughout the world, and across many different languages. Let us give sincere thanks to him through his son Jesus, for which none of us would have any salvation, if it were not for His burning desire to fulfil his Father’s will at any cost, with deep compassion and mercy toward us.