Conscience: "the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one's conduct or motives, impelling one toward right action" - Dictionary.com
I have thought about it alot in the past months and years. I have undertaken a journey to know God, to know truth, and to align my life with it. One of the most astounding experiences I have had spiritually is a gradual but steady change in my conscience. I feel differently about my choices, the words I use, the movies I watch, than I did a year ago. Or two. The Bible often uses the word "convicted", which is a word which relates to our conscience. The things I feel conviction about are changing. That is, I feel conviction about deeper things, the state of my heart, my thoughts, and so forth.
Peace of the spirit is certainly to be desired in making decisions, trying to discern God's will. It is sometimes all we have to go on. We come to come to a crossroads, and there seems to be no discernable direction. It is then we covet the peace of God about the decision we make.
The idea, though, that our behavior in a certain area of our life does not bother our conscience, and therfore it is ok - such a conclusion isn't reliable. We will inevitably have peace about whatever we're used to, about the level of degradation to which we've become accustomed. This changes according to how much we are open to God, and whether or not we are desire Him to prune our lives, to cut out the parts that are diseased. The point is this: someone can have "peace" about divorcing their wife. I would contend that this would be an indication not of the positive moral quality of the decision or of God's blessing, but of spiritual darkness.
The truth about the human heart is that it changes according to our decisions and what we subject ourselves to. The conscience, our inner moral compass, is maliable, it is organic. We talk about "cold blooded murderers" and thank God we aren't one of them. But our hearts are made of the same stuff as theirs. Any person who pushes God away long enough, and chooses to live by the dictates of their own will inevitably experiences the hardening and the deadening of their conscience.
The term that perhaps most accurately describes us as a culture is "desensitized". I don't think any examples are necessary. The increasing moral desensitivity is obvious. The term I hope might characterize my walk with God is "resensitized". I hope that as I begin to understand more who God is, my heart would respond and continue to change. I want "a heart of flesh".
So God's peace cannot indicate a specific direction we should go? What about when he gives us peace about a decision we would not have otherwise chosen for ourselves? Does that not show that it is based on more than just "whatever we're used to"? I'm curious on your thoughts :)
ReplyDeleteI would say not peace alone - that is, not a feeling alone. Some decisions, like I wrote the entry last year - "Listening to God", are not specifically right or wrong. In those cases, certainly we should seek to be sensitive to where God is pointing us, according to circumstances, doors opening or closing, and trying to discern God's voice in our heart. That would of course include the presence of peace, or lack of it.
ReplyDeleteWhat I am saying here is not so much related to decisions as they pertain to life direction, but rather decisions when we are trying to discern whether an action has moral implications in and of itself. I find myself wondering sometimes what is permissible for me as a follower of Christ. I think, however, that the more I understand God, the more I think I should ask what is BEST. Not just right or wrong.
But you raise a good point. I am going to reword that paragraph.