How can we train our conscience

God intended for the Jewish kosher laws to distinguish the Jewish people from the pagan, godless Gentile nations around them Lev b You shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean, and you shall not make yourselves abominable by beast or by bird, or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.

And you shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine. You see, Gentile people had no problem eating these animals, so these laws discouraged the Jews from eating with or doing trade with the people of these nations at their markets, in their homes, and so on. Christ offset this teaching by turning our attention to what really matters, which is that which comes out of our hearts. Here in Acts 10, Peter reminded the Lord that had observed these kosher food laws carefully all his life and would be extremely reticent to violate that sensitivity now.

Indeed, his conscience was trained to think this way. Nevertheless, Peter was reminded that God had now declared these foods clean to eat, and then he repeated the dream and instructions to Peter two more times. In some cases, as with Peter, we can allow our consciences to become so strict that we prevent ourselves from being able to reach people with the gospel.

Now to be sure, we should never sin to reach people with the gospel. Do you know what he felt like when God told him to eat some food that his conscience felt strongly was wrong to eat? In fact, Peter continued to struggle with training his conscience on this detail months or maybe even years later Gal We know this because sometime later, Paul confronted him for leaving the table with Gentiles when certain Jewish people came around.

The key to retraining our conscience is not waiting until our conscience feels okay with doing a certain thing or not. I have many examples of this in my life but will share one of them here. At this church, it was considered immodest for men to wear shorts. In all sincerity, I accepted this teaching out of a heart that desired to please the Lord and represent him well. This meant that I wore nylon wind pants or cloth warm-up pants for all athletic activities, such as basketball or running — even in sweltering heat.

As you might guess, people found this a bit strange when I played ball at the city courts, especially on super-hot days, and wondered whether I was thinking clearly. But this seemed to be a very faulty way of reasoning. Should I also wear sandals and an apron, too? And what about pants? Should I exchange my pants for a robe? They would lift up the bottom of their robe or tunic and tie it into the belt around their waste or tie it as a belt around their waste so that their legs were free to move without a hindrance.

You might decide to make effort to really listen to others with full attention when they ask for it instead of waiting for your turn to talk or multi-tasking. Live your values. If you believe that helping others less fortunate than you is the right thing to do, then get out there and do it.

Reach out and volunteer in your community on issues that your conscience feels strongly about, whether it is people, animals, or the environment. You could offer to be a mentor to children or a tutor to students, or simply donate food and clothing to people in need. Stand up for your beliefs.

Each time you do it will increase your belief and confidence that you are a person who can be relied on to do the right thing. Trust your own beliefs and decisions of what is right. Do not let yourself be swayed by what others think, say or do.

Speak up when you see an injustice being done. Many people have a strong conscience but are afraid to act. Make sure you are a person who not only knows the right thing but does the right thing.

Julia Yacoob, PhD. There are a lot of different answers to that question. I believe there's some amount of nature involved in the process, but for sure the conscience is something that can be nurtured through your sense of morality and rights and wrongs.

Yes No. Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0. Sometimes having a conscience is something that can backfire if you're too stuck on what's right and what's wrong, as there are tons of variations and definitions for those things across different individuals. Jennifer Prieto-Torres. By reminding your friend to do the right thing, and the consequences of actions his or her actions. Not Helpful 4 Helpful 6. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Remember that practice is essential.

Like any skill developing your conscience will improve with practice and will fade without it. Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0. Living according to your conscience can sometimes be hard but the benefits for your peace of mind outweigh the difficulties. Learn from them and look forward. People can act in different ways in different situations, for instance when under pressure someone might act in a manner which is unusual for them.

Helpful 8 Not Helpful 1. People can act in a way that is not right, but still believe that they are moral people. Helpful 6 Not Helpful 3. Avoid people who appear to not have a conscience, they may be manipulative and dangerous.

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By signing up you are agreeing to receive emails according to our privacy policy. They appear on the surface to be sound enough in their views but they lack convictions on almost everything.

They have arrived at similar conclusions as truly spiritual men, but by a different route. Because of this they are liable to jettison their standards when under pressure. We must ask ourselves, therefore, why we believe what we do and act as we do. Have we worked things out for ourselves? Have we faced up to the issues? Or have we just accepted a ready-made Christian morality? The Church of Rome eliminates the tediousness of the exercise of conscience, and the Evangelical preacher can do the very same thing!

He can assert on his own authority, that Christians should or should not do this ad that without demonstrating from the Scriptures what God requires, and opening up Biblical principles for the people of God to apply for themselves. Paul gave his conscience work to do. He constantly exercised it. He was not content with ignoring it until it shouted at him, but aware that it needed information, guidance and light.

So he instructed it. We are exhorted to do this ourselves. In this case we instruct our consciences on the basis of the objective tests of the epistle that we are Christians or otherwise. We should not regard assurance as something over which we have no control, and with regard to which we have no responsibility. We should use the Word of God either to strengthen our assurance or to remove it. We should not allow doubts to linger and rob us of our joy. When we exercise our conscience and satisfy it we can have the happiness Paul speaks of.

In 11 Tim. He had not only obeyed his conscience so that it did not condemn him, but had refined it and purified it. It was well instructed and exercised, and therefore in a healthy condition. In Romans Paul refers to the Holy Spirit operating through his conscience, giving testimony to the truth of his statement.

This added great weight to his remarks. The influence of a man who has a pure conscience is tremendous. Just as a healthy man can do more than one who is unfit, so the usefulness of a Christian whose conscience is in good condition is all the greater.

Furthermore, Paul insisted in 1 Tim. The an who has an intellectual knowledge alone may hold the mystery of the faith, but does not do it in a pure conscience. Paul urges Timothy 1 Tim. The child of God must have the doctrine, and he must apply it to himself. Our fathers in the faith in the 17th and 18th Centuries and later have been condemned for giving their consciences too much work to do in terms of self-examination. Whether this is true or not it can certainly be said that we have not given our consciences enough to do!

We are used to having everything done for us in these days.