Charles Stanley - Is Your Conscience Your Protector?

The conscience is our internal traffic light, given to us by God for our own good. Learn how this personal moral compass keeps us safe—and how ignoring it can lead us down dangerous paths. Don’t sear your conscience by repeatedly disobeying its leading. Instead, keep it clear and sensitive so you won’t be led astray.

When confronted with questionable situations or opportunities, can you trust your conscience to guide you to make right choices? These are important questions because as believers, we are called to live sanctified lives that are fully surrendered to Christ. Although we know that this is God’s will for us and that He’s working toward this purpose in our lives, we have a responsibility in the process as well. What we habitually do has tremendous influence on whether we will have a godly life.

God has given every person a conscience to guard and guide them. This is not the same as the Holy Spirit because He only dwells in those who have believed in Jesus Christ for salvation. However, once we’re saved, the Spirit then works through the conscience to remind us that some attitudes, thoughts, words, and actions don’t fit our new identity in Christ. The more committed we are to Him, the louder our conscience will be.

When Paul wrote to Timothy, who was the pastor of the church in Ephesus, he told him to “fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith” (1 Tim. 1:18-19). This is a warning to us that spiritual shipwreck eventually comes to those who feel the conviction of their conscience and reject its signals. God gave us the conscience for our protection, but when we plow on through without obeying its counsel, eventually it is of no use to us.