We all came into this world in the same way. We all were born. And at that moment, we all were clean slates. We had no influences from the world around us. We had no preconceived ideas. We could not make decisions nor pass judgement on anyone or anything. However, from the first sensation of our mother’s touch all the way unto this moment in time, our minds have been collecting and cataloging knowledge and experiences. And all that we’ve collected whether good or bad, has led us to the place we are today.
Experiences happen, we cannot always control our environment. But it isn’t necessarily the experiences that define us. It is the decisions we have made and the conclusions we’ve drawn regarding those experiences, which have yielded long lasting effects on our lives. Our experiences may have written our history, but our responses to those experiences have built our conscience.
Every person has a conscience. Merriam Webster defines it as: “the sense or consciousness of the moral goodness or blameworthiness of one’s own conduct, intentions, or character together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good”.
In the center of our conscience is our heart which is where our innermost thoughts and convictions reside. It is the hiding place for our secrets. It is where we write our moral code and store our most precious ideas. It is where we hold tight to our unwavering faith. Our heart is the seat of our personal life, and it directs our conscience.
I think of our conscience like a computer’s operating system. It manages our mind’s input and output. It allocates our mind’s resources and coordinates the execution of its reactions. It works to avoid conflicts. And just like the computer’s operating system, it is always running in the background. However, everyone’s conscience is unique to their own platform. There is no “one size fits all” conscience that can be downloaded into everyone’s mind. You cannot run on my conscience, nor can I run on yours. We must be the sole programmers of our own conscience. We design our own operating system and write the unique codes that it follows to perform the necessary tasks of our personal platforms. We must maintain our operating system in good working order. And like our computer’s operating system gets updated regularly, we must keep our conscience updated also.
There are many good people in the world who endeavor to maintain a good moral conscience. They have developed their operating system according to their own ethical standard, which may or may not be based on religious beliefs. Their platform is built on their own innate sense of right and wrong. Although they may be good people, their operating system might not always be reliable. Without an unalterable platform of truth, the line between right and wrong could become blurred.
Unfortunately, there are also individuals in this world whose conscience is steeped in moral decay. Their operating systems are based on lies, deceit and greed. Their platform is evil. The Bible describes them as, “having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” (1 Timothy 4:2) They are miserable and want everyone else to be miserable as well. And just like hackers seek to infiltrate our computers and cause harm, they try to slip their evil agendas onto our platforms and corrupt our operating systems.
The Bible warns us about them.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
We cannot allow these people to affect our conscience. But they will try!
We Christians have a standard for our operating system that is greater than ourselves. When our conscience is built on and governed by the Bible, we have a truly unchangeable platform to rely on. We can have the confidence in ourselves that only God’s Word can provide. We will not be seduced by the corruption that is so prevalent in the world today because God’s Word provides an impenetrable firewall around our hearts. Of course, none of us is perfect, and we can get tricked in our minds. But with our faith in God, those tricks will never reach our hearts. We know that we must take action to keep the data on our computers safe from hackers. We must also take action to protect our conscience and our heart against the thief who wants to corrupt our character and steal our wellbeing.
The worldly powers are always seeking to take over our hearts because they know if they can reach us there, they have won. God is always seeking an invitation from us for Him to come into our hearts because He knows if we put Him there, we have won for all eternity!!
Proverbs 4:23 – Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
We must guard our hearts like a priceless commodity. Our hearts direct our conscience, and our conscience directs our minds. Our hearts hold the knowledge and wisdom that are vital to our very being and that allow us to be who we truly want to be. The Bible says, “with the heart man believeth unto righteousness…” (Romans 10:10) Salvation came to us via our hearts. And just like our physical heart sustains our body, the heart of our conscience sustains our soul.
Note to my readers:
Thanks for reading my amateurish attempt at using computer jargon! 😊