Against Conscience
Albert Einstein said, “Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.”
Every human being has a conscience. Conscience is an inherent ability to perceive what is wrong and right. Conscience enables us to compare our behaviors and our morals.
C.S. Lewis stated, “Human beings, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way and cannot really get rid of it.” (‘Mere Christianity’)
A person may ignore his or her conscience and do contrary to what his or her conscience tells him or her. But conscience cannot be eliminated. Whenever we want to do anything inappropriate, an inner voice opposes us by making us aware that what we intend to do is not right.
James H. Aughey, an American clergyman (1828-1911) said, “Conscience is the voice of God in the soul,” implying that God speaks to us through our conscience. That small voice speaking against what you are planning to do is the voice that God put inside you to check your behaviors. That voice is telling you that someone is watching you.
However, some people ignore their conscience. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 4:2 that these speak lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron. They intentionally reject the urgings of their conscience. They do what their minds tell them to do. They are selfish and greedy and do not care if what they do will harm others.
A good conscience helps us to perceive right and wrong. Psychology describes conscience as the inner sense of right and wrong. It is the awareness of our behaviors.
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines conscience as the sense or consciousness of the moral goodness or blameworthiness of one’s conduct, intentions, or character together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good.
Conscience guides us in our actions. A good conscience guides us in making the right decisions and doing what is right. In these turbulent times of evil, the human conscience is engulfed in the ocean of negativity. Therefore, it is difficult for many to maintain a high standard of integrity. Apart from the lure of illicit quick and easy wealth, peer pressure exerts tremendous persuasion that most people find too compelling. The lure and persuasion are so overwhelming that many people can’t withstand the pressure and so, yield to temptations.
That’s why we need God’s Spirit. God’s Spirit provides the spiritual strength for us to withstand the temptations. 1 Corinthians 10:13 assures us that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our strength. He will always provide a way out.
Does your conscience speak to you? What does it tell you? If your conscience tells you to do what is right, do you also feel confronted by the lure or the persuasion to do what is wrong and gratify your need?
Your financial situation might be precarious. You might be in dire need of money, and the opportunity to make some quick money through illegal means might present itself. But your conscience is also telling you that you must preserve your integrity. To make matters worse, you notice that others have abandoned good moral and ethical principles and are making money through unethical means. How do you respond to that?
Though people might feel sorry for a thief who steals because he is hungry, when the thief is discovered or apprehended, he will be made to restore what he has stolen. The Bible says he must restore what he has stolen sevenfold (Proverbs 6:30-31).
Stealing is still bad even if you steal because you are hungry. Instead of stealing, beg. If God’s Spirit indwells you, He will help you to do what is right if you ask for His help and guidance.
The dictionary defines patriotism as the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to a country or state.
Leaders encourage citizens to be patriotic. Yet some of the leaders, or most of them, are themselves unpatriotic. They expect others to be patriotic, yet they are not patriotic themselves. Many leaders take advantage of their fellow citizens, get juicy pay or remuneration, and enjoy extra benefits they have not earned. Yet they are not satisfied with what they get, and they crave more. They are always craving and striving to loot even what has been entrusted to them. They call those extra benefits perks; additional or extra benefits to their salaries. What is funny is that the perks are not given to them willingly by the people. They violently seize the so-called perks.
Nations have crafted national anthems and pledges to remind citizens of their loyalties and devotion to their countries, but people do contrary to the anthems and pledges. Leaders and those entrusted with the nations’ wealth blatantly abuse the trust of their citizens.
In every aspect of our national life, economic or social, there is blatant corruption. Corruption is eating deeper and deeper even among the religious. We claim to be religious, but we indulge in all manners of evil. Greed is voraciously eating deep into our psyche. Only a fraction is courageous enough to be faithful or honest.
Some police officers and army personnel use the weapons that are bought with the taxes of citizens to harass, bully, and deprive innocent citizens of their freedom. Innocent people have been jailed for crimes they have not committed. Some are lucky that after spending some time in jail they manage to get organizations to fight their cases. These few are fortunate to be released. Others are not so lucky, and they remain in jail, serving their sentences. A few who have been freed have gotten some compensation. Others do not get compensation after they have been released. Because they do not have the means to fight for compensation.
People value money above the good of their countries. Some value wealth above their fellow human beings.
Although people claim they love and fear God, their deeds are evil. They pray to God and claim to be God-fearing, but their actions are inimical to the welfare of their countries and fellow citizens. Some kill their fellow human beings and use parts of the bodies of the victims for rituals to make money. They do not consider that the lives they take do not belong to them. God created those lives and God will surely punish people who kill innocent and helpless people in their greed to make money. They will surely pay for their evils on the day of Judgment.
People indulge in illegal occupations and destroy the environment so they can make money for themselves. The environment God gave to humans and living beings to maintain life on earth is being rendered unfit for agricultural activities and the sustenance of life. In Ghana and other African countries, the devastation is frightening as rivers and water bodies are polluted and lands degraded.
Political opposition parties crave votes and so they make all kinds of promises. Some of them are childish, and some are outright lies. Those who make them know they are impossible to fulfill. Some also promise people who are engaged in illegalities that when they assume the reins of power, they will grant them amnesty. Amnesty so they can perpetuate their illegalities?
While in opposition, they see the rot in the ruling governments. They shout at the top of their voices that they will clear the mess when they assume power. But when they assume the reins of power, they quickly or conveniently forget the promises they made while they were in opposition.
Security agents who should arrest culprits instead indulge in malfeasance they are supposed to help eradicate. They take bribes, claiming the bribes are gifts, and they let culprits go free. Yet, these security personnel swore oaths to defend the constitution of their country and to do what is right.
Only a few people remain truly patriotic. Only a few resist the lure of money and do not contaminate their integrity.
Let your conscience speak to you and desist from negative acts against your country and fellow humans.
When people pollute the waters and poison the lands with mercury and cyanide the harm affects all of us. We eat the foodstuffs that are harvested in areas where the lands and the waters have been poisoned. The crops and waters take in the poison of the mercury and cyanide that illegal miners use in their operations. The foodstuffs are sent to other towns and cities where they are sold. When we eat these foodstuffs we eat the poison of the chemicals that the plants and crops have absorbed into their systems. So, the harm affects all of us, including those who did not participate in polluting the waters and degrading the lands.
People must stop polluting the waters and stop poisoning the lands.
Mindset is the power to self-realization and self-esteem. Your mental attitude decides how you see things in the world, how you believe in yourself, and how you respond to situations.
The physically challenged person whose mindset is positive will challenge his or her crippled legs to climb the ladder of success and achieve results.
The physically challenged person whose mindset is positive challenges himself or herself to learn to paint with his mouth, despite having no hands.
You can make things happen by changing your mindset.
However, a change of mindset alone is not enough. You need the Spirit of God to strengthen your spirit. You need to exercise willpower. God’s Spirit will enable you by empowering your spirit to do what you should do. The Holy Spirit will help you to exercise willpower when you feel weak (Acts 1:8). When the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit enabled them to speak in languages that they had not learned. They spoke strange languages because the Holy Spirit enabled them to speak (Acts 2:4).
We must first have a change of mindset. The mind adapts to the new thought patterns or behaviors you feed your brain. Acting on our beliefs or thoughts changes our behaviors by reshaping our behaviors to adapt to new patterns of action.
We get supernatural power to act when God’s spirit activates God’s power in our spirits (Acts 1:8). Furthermore, our actions lead to achievements.
God is Spirit. And He lives in the human being as the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit transforms the human spirit into a new person endowed with God’s power (1 Samuel 10:6). The human body cannot join himself or herself with the Spirit of God. God’s Spirit joins himself with the human spirit and the two become one spirit living in the human body (1 Corinthians 6:17).
I use milk and water to illustrate. Both are liquids. But milk is whitish (or creamy) while water is colorless and transparent. If the milk is poured into the water, the color of the water changes. The water does not change itself. It is the milk that transforms the water to be like milk in color and taste. The transforming power is in the milk.
In the same manner, God’s Spirit, pouring into the human spirit, transforms the human spirit. As the water eventually becomes milky, so those led by God’s Spirit become spiritual children of God (Romans 8:14-16). And our spirit and God’s Spirit become one (1 Corinthians 6:17).
If the Spirit of God is poured into the human spirit, the human spirit receives divine power (Acts 1:8). However, if a person merely believes but does not allow the Spirit of God to actuate His power in him or her, he or she remains a powerless believer. He or she may still be God’s child but be powerless.
Allow the Spirit of God to actuate the power of God in you. The Father who lives in you is the one who does the work (John 14:10).
Don’t be an unbelieving believer. Jesus noticed that some of His disciples found His statements hard to understand or accept (John 6:60-63). You must believe before you can receive spiritual power (Matthew 17:19-20; Matthew 21:21; Luke 17:6; John 1:12).
God makes you partaker of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:3-4). Despite your educational background, your physical strength, or age, you are destined for greatness. You are a conqueror because God’s Spirit is in you (1 John 4:4).
What you decree is established by God for you, (Job 22:28) because He lives in you, and because you decree according to God’s will (Romans 12:2). Therefore, we have the confidence that we receive anything we ask him when we ask according to his will (1 John 5:14-15; Jeremiah 29:12; John 14:13; John 15:7).
May God give you the grace to understand that you are God’s child because of the work Jesus Christ did on your behalf. May God make you know how much He loves you (1 John 3:1-2). Because of this privilege, God wants you to purify yourself (1 John 3:3). God is Holy so we must also live holy lives (1 Peter 1:14-17).
Jesus, the Prince of Peace, is our motivator.