You have a conscience for a reason. Think of it as a highly advanced onboard warning system, hardwired down so deep within you that it is often referred to as your “gut”. Be advised, situations often arise in life that call for just such a system to be in place when nothing else would be reliable.

Perhaps someone you trust tries to talk you into doing something with which you are not comfortable. Instinctively, you know that you ought to avoid the activity in question, but you may be tempted to relax your judgment, ignoring your internal inclinations rather than stick with them and appear negative.

Pay attention to your discomfort! There is usually a good reason when you feel unsettled about something, even if you can’t put your finger on exactly why you feel it to be problematic. Have the courage to trust your instincts. Be honest with yourself first, and then with others. And there is no shame in making your discomfort known. In social situations, it is worthwhile to consider that real friends would never ask you to compromise your scruples. You wouldn’t do that to them….. Would you?

No other creature on the planet seems to have the same kind of moral compass we have, in our own personal conscience. Consider the very meaning of the word. It is a combination of the prefix con, meaning “with”, and the word science, meaning “knowledge”. Your conscience, therefore, is that part of you that helps you to move through life with the knowledge that you are going in the right direction. Making moral decisions without sufficient information is like moving through a mine-field without knowing where the mines are.

The apostle Paul’s exhortation to “Prove all things” (1st Thessalonians 5:21), is a piece of practical wisdom that can keep you and me out of a lot of trouble. Don’t fall for the faulty reasoning that says you should allow yourself to do anything that you cannot prove is wrong. Rather, give yourself the freedom to do only those things that you know are right, or “proven”. And remember; just because you cannot immediately articulate on the spot exactly why something is wrong, is no reason to accept it as being right. Do not allow others to pressure you into accepting that erroneous conclusion, and in so doing, let them do your thinking for you.

Early Christians shopping for food among pagan sacrificial animals sold in the open market needed to be fortified as follows:

The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is
he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is
condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not
from faith is sin.     Romans 14:22-23

Having your own convictions is not a fault, but a requirement of faith. Whether you’d call it your conscience, your instincts, your gut, or even your INS, listen to it.

Marty Kessler