Dear Heavenly Father,
You are holy, omnipotent, and all-knowing. There is none like You, Heavenly Father, and I am so thankful to be Your child. Please forgive me for anything that I have said, thought, felt, or done that was contrary to Your Word and Will. Please help me to be better in my attitude and behavior, so that my life brings glory to Your holy name. Father, Thank You for teaching us about having a good conscience. In Romans 14:23(NLT), You instruct, “But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.” You are instructing us about how important it is to recognize the inner voice of a good conscience, and when it tells us that something isn’t quite right, we should listen.
Some people miss the lesson You are teaching here. You are letting us know that we have an obligation not to offend others, and if eating a piece of food in their presence brings offense, then we shouldn’t do it. If we’re thinking about making a decision and Your Holy Spirit is convicting us about it, we will experience an inner tugging that lets us know something is off. When this happens, You are letting us know that we should not go ahead and do it anyway. There’s consequences when we do this, and we could save ourselves from trouble if we listen to the Spirit.
In verse 15 in the same chapter, You tell us, “And if another believer is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don’t let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died.” You have used food as a demonstration to teach us, but it’s our attitude in situations like this that is important to You. Sometimes, we forget that eyes are upon us and that our actions, attitudes, and behaviors are being watched. People today are longing to see true examples of Christian love and they are impacted when they do. You want us to have an understanding and sympathetic conscience, one where we realize that everyone isn’t at the same level of spiritual understanding as we might be. They may not understand Your grace and covering the way we do. We must not offend them, even about something as simple as food. Instead we must walk by Your Spirit and be kind. You tell us in Romans 14:18(NLT), “If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too.”
Father, we live in an age where many people no longer care about sinning against You, and it is because they have no consciousness about how sin offends You. As Your children, we can’t be that way. Please let the Holy Spirit convict us about things we shouldn’t do, and please help us to recognize the Spirit’s conviction in our hearts and mind, so that we don’t fall into temptation. We want to please You with our whole lives. Thank You for helping us to be in harmony with one another as the body of Christ, so that we will all be built up in him according to Your Will and Plan. In the precious name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“A Good Conscience”, written by KLizzie, edited by Reverend Fran Mack, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2021. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.