I’m certain that you have heard it said, “Let your conscience be your guide.” If you still have a healthy conscience then that is a pretty safe plan. Billy Graham says; “God has put within each one of us something that cries aloud against us, whenever we do that which we know to be wrong.”
How do we keep our conscience healthy? By avoiding things which the Bible warns will damage it. 1 Cor. 8:12 tells us that it is possible to “wound” our conscience. We do that by simply ignoring it and going ahead with what we want to do. 1 Cor. 8:7 tells us that it is possible to “defile” our conscience. The word translated “defile” means literally to “tread underfoot”. At this point we have made a habit of ignoring our conscience. 1 Timothy 4:2 mentions the last stage in the destruction of our conscience. It calls this “searing our conscience”. The word sear means to “make callous and unfeeling”.
No wonder 1 Peter 3:16 tells us to “keep a good conscience”. The way we do that is by staying mindful of the warnings listed above. Even a healthy conscience does not have the power to keep us from doing wrong, but as long as we listen to it, it will be used by God to help us avoid a lot of sin and suffering.
1 Timothy 1:19 provided the “bottom line” on this subject. A modern translation says; “fight the good fight, with faith and a good conscience. Some refused to listen to their conscience and suffered a shipwreck in their faith”. If we ignore and violate our conscience long enough, we will destroy our own faith! Sooner or later, a crisis will come our way and we will desperately want and need a strong faith to see us through it. Having been shipwrecked three times, Paul knew exactly what a graphic picture of total destruction he was painting when he used that word. This is important. Keep a good conscience!
Bro. Dennis