New Reminders: Conscience
by Ardith Hoff
A dictionary definition of the word conscience is: “an inner feeling or voice viewed as acting as a guide to the rightness or wrongness of one's behavior.” The word itself is a combination of two parts, con, meaning “against or contrary to” and science, meaning “The pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a methodology based on evidence.”
This might cause us to ask, “Is conscience inborn (God given) or is it learned?” Scientific research tends to indicate that it is learned, but the Bible seems to imply that it is already within us. It’s the old nature vs nurture debate that has troubled educators for centuries, most of whom come down on the side of “a combination of the two.” In other words, most of us were born with the potential to know right from wrong, but we need to learn by applying knowledge and understanding (science) to make appropriate choices. Conscience is a judgment of reason by which we determine whether an action is right or wrong. It takes knowledge and practice for anyone to learn how to make good judgments.
Parents and many other influences determine how strong or weak our conscience will be. Knowledge of the ten commandments and what they mean is one of the ways children are taught what is right and wrong. Parents, pastors, Sunday school teachers and regular school teachers all try to instill moral and ethical behavior in children. Some other influencers, such as peers, TV and social media sow confusion and opposing views. Children are keen observers and when they see people who get away with bad behavior, they might start to think that anything goes, as long as you don’t get caught, or that honesty just gets you into trouble. Not only do children need to be taught right from wrong, but how to critically analyze what others are saying or doing.
We can’t always trust our conscience, but we can always trust God. Some people worry constantly that they might have done something wrong. Guilt plagues them! Anxiety becomes an obsession. We need to teach children (and some adults) that worry is a blinking yellow light that warns us that they need to learn to give things over to God. If we learn to be honest with ourselves, and then with God, we do not need to worry.
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” John 3:17. It’s not God’s purpose to condemn us; it’s His desire to take away our sins, to keep us from sin, and to save us through Jesus Christ.