True Conscience
True conscience is the voice of God, which guides every human heart. It guides us in all our decisions, constantly persuading us to do what is right. Since every human soul, which is the essence of a human being, is made in the image of God; it can survive only if it allows God’s spirit to dwell in it. Therefore, when we reject his spirit, our soul goes into complete turmoil and total darkness. On the other hand when we obey God’s commands, we find peace and joy because then our soul is alive and resonates in unison with God’s spirit.
We often find that for a given situation different people’s conscience gives them different solutions. For example, when there is conflict between nations, to some, their conscience asks them to resolve the problem by peaceful and loving methods. To others, their conscience asks them to resolve the problem by hateful and violent methods (such as war or terrorism). Since there is only one God, and he is our conscience, his message to all people involved in a particular situation should be the same. Therefore, in the above-mentioned situation, one of the two parties is not following their true conscience. Since God is love, acts of hate and violence cannot come from God. The people in the second group are therefore, definitely not following their true conscience. Unfortunately, they are so certain about what their conscience is telling them, that they are willing to sacrifice their lives in the process of committing violent and hateful acts. During the war of American Independence both parties thought that they were fighting for God and nation. The loyalist thought they were with the king, and therefore, on the just side; and the nationalist thought they were for independence, and therefore, on the just side. In this war families were torn apart, human beings were killed, properties were destroyed, and hate and contempt were generated. Certainly, none of this came from God; because, none of it had to do with unconditional love. We should therefore, never be too sure about what we think our conscience is telling us. It is always possible, that due to our pride, selfishness and social environment, we may be misinterpreting our conscience. We have to therefore, empty our self of pride and selfishness, and interpret our conscience in a spirit of humility, compassion and unconditional love. In addition, because the Church is the body of Christ and he is its head, for our conscience to be according God’s will, it must be in line with the teachings of the Church. The Church has kept the teachings of Jesus unaltered for two thousand years. We can therefore, confidently follow her teachings, in order to form our conscience.
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04-10-2005, 01:02 PM
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