June 15

Keep a good conscience

“Herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men” (Acts 24:16).
“Holding faith, and a good conscience” (1 Tim. 1:19).

A good conscience is a palace for Christ, a temple for the Holy Ghost, a paradise of delight, and a standing Sabbath for the saint.
—St. Augustine.

If a man has nothing to reproach himself with, he can bear anything.
—Phillips Brooks.


A Conscience:
So awake, that it cannot be surprised;
So just, that it cannot be bribed;
So pleased with that which is right, as to be a cause of constant joy; So pained with what is wrong, that it is, so long as we are guided by its dictates, impossible to sin;
A Conscience that will not give its consent, however enticed or persuaded, to anything that is evil.
—John Hunt.

The conscience is to man what the lighthouse is to the mariner except that the lighthouse continues to flash its warnings, but the conscience can be stifled and seared.

“Having their conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Tim. 4:2).

“Good-bye,” I said to my conscience.
“Good-bye, for aye and aye.”
And I put off her hands harshly,
And I turned my face away;
And conscience smitten sorely
Returned not from that day.

But a time came when my spirit
Grew weary of its pace,
And I cried, “Come back, my conscience;
I long to see thy face.”
But conscience cried, “I cannot;
Remorse sits in my place.”

Read full article...