Martin Luther King Jr. had stated:
·
“There comes a time when one must take a
position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it
because conscience tells him it is right.” (A Testament of Hope: The Essential
Writings and Speeches)
Why listen to the conscience? What is it that places
conscience above our pleasures and fears? Even though we might not like to
admit it, we sense that the conscience speaks with an authoritative voice, as
the Bible testifies:
·
They demonstrate 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. (Romans 2:15 NLT)
What happens when we violate our conscience? We feel the we
have violated ourselves. The late psychologist Carl Gustav Jung recognized this
fact:
·
“Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves.
But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice
says to us, something is out of tune. ”
How do we get our conscience back into tune? Not by positive
affirmations! It would be like telling our wife after she had found out that we
were having an affair, “It’s okay, because I have forgiven myself.”
Instead, we require our wife’s forgiveness and the
forgiveness of the One who had given us our conscience:
·
If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling
ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
(1 John 1:8-9)
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