READ: 1 Timothy 1:4-11
“Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.” – Hebrews 13:18
Shepherds must develop their conscience. The conscience is the still small voice that speaks from within warning you about right and wrong. Whether the conscience is the voice of the spirit or the voice of the soul, I cannot really tell. But what I do know is that it is the warning light from “within” that lets you know when you are doing something wrong.
Having a good conscience is like having a sensitive warning system deep within. If you set aside this warning system, you will expose yourself to untold dangers.
The recent tsunami in Asia took the world by surprise and left hundreds of thousands dead. The reason for the massive death toll was the absence of a deep sea warning system. Since the tsunami, they have developed special warning systems deep within the sea that can pick up danger signs and transmit warnings to offices thousands of miles away.
This tsunami warning system is expected to help in the event of another massive earthquake. In the case of the tsunami, it is easy to see how many people could have escaped if they had had five minutes of warning. That is why God put our consciences in us; so we could be warned by the Holy Spirit.
Like the tsunami warning system, the conscience can be more or less sensitive. The more sensitive it is, the more you will find yourself confessing your sins and praying for mercy every few minutes. The less sensitive the warning system, the fewer things you will confess.