A Healthy Conscience: How Do I Know What’s Right?

A baby’s brain is incredibly complex and full of potential. Even more amazing is the awesome process God uses to develop our minds and consciences!

The embryonic development of a human fetus is one of the most amazing processes that God created. Though the formation of every structure and organ in the body is a wonder to behold, it is especially fascinating to study the development of the brain, which God imparted with special abilities that set us apart from the rest of His creation. A sense of right and wrong is certainly unique to people. And it’s intriguing to learn how it comes about.

The amazing development of a baby’s brain

Prior to birth, the fetal brain is filled with an overabundance of synaptic connections, the sites where communication between our brain cells occurs. This overproduction of synapses maximizes the brain’s ability to learn from the multitudinous experiences the baby will encounter after birth. (This is actually why babies begin life with poor fine-motor skills and are wobbly and unsteady.)

When a baby is born, his or her mind is like a sponge, ready and eager to absorb information from every possible source. In a process known as pruning, the number of synapses actually begins to decrease, fine-tuning the brain to work at maximum capacity. Unused connections are eliminated so that the most frequently used connections can grow stronger.

The brain is a dynamic organ, continually changing throughout life, and sometimes these changes can occur within a matter of minutes. This is why keeping the brain active by learning new things is one of the best ways to keep the mind functioning at its best.

Animal brains function under the same physical principles that the human brain works under, but our Creator gave us more. He has given us a spirit in man that makes our minds possible—that allows us to think, reason, plan and make choices.

The source of a healthy conscience

The conscience is a part of the human mind that helps us to make decisions, and it must be properly educated, trained and exercised in order to steer us in the right direction. As the loving Creator who always knows what is best for us, God gave us His law to teach us what is right and what is wrong. The instructions found in the Bible help us to develop a healthy conscience.

Contrary to popular psychology, we should feel convicted by our conscience when we are thinking or doing something that violates God’s standard. Just as physical pain alerts us to the need to make a physical change (for example, pull your hand back from the flame), the healthy conscience alerts us to the need to make a moral change. The nagging feeling of guilt we feel encourages us to make the necessary course corrections to stay on the right path, which ultimately spares us from a great deal of turmoil, pain and even death.

As I thought about this subject, I found this saying of Jesus Christ fascinating: “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23).

Searing our conscience

The eye is a metaphor for our mind, and I think of the conscience as a filter covering it. I need to allow the Holy Spirit to guide my conscience to evaluate everything coming into my mind, to see whether it is right or wrong.

If my conscience is healthy and I listen to it, my mind will be healthy and my whole body will be full of light. However, when I ignore my conscience, it’s like burning a hole in the filter. Eventually, the filter would no longer be able to keep the bad out. This would be like searing the conscience with a hot iron.

Developing a healthy conscience

So, how can I prevent this tragedy and develop a healthy conscience? By studying the Bible and filling my mind with what God says is good and right. I can also pray for protection from temptation and evil, as Christ said.

The conscience is often a small, subtle voice amidst a sea of louder and more persistent voices. It takes a lot of effort and attention to tune in to that soft, gentle voice. But it’s worth the effort.

I found an excellent sermon by Bruce Gore on this subject titled “Developing a Spiritually Healthy Conscience.” You can find it on our Media page by scrolling down to April 25, 2011.

Melody Hess is a microbiologist who lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband, Jeremy, and their two dogs, Gibble and Chico. She is beginning work on her master’s in nutrition at the University of Cincinnati. Jeremy and Melody attend the Cincinnati/Dayton congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association.