I listened to him for a while and I could perceive that he had lost the consciousness of right and wrong. What he did was obviously wrong but he was not seeing it that way. Worst still, he was very strong on his opinion and could not be convinced otherwise. Then I realised the power of a living conscience.

Friend, one of your greatest assets in life and destiny is a conscience that is alive. Your conscience talks about your consciousness of right and wrong. It is like an internal meter that signals when you are going beyond the limit of moral uprightness (1 Samuel 24:4-5).

While for a born again person, your conscience has been made alive to God, how you live would determine the state of your conscience per time (Hebrews 9:14, 10:22). As a new creature, the Holy Spirit is the voice of your conscience but your refusal to listen to His promptings can put your conscience in a place of insensitivity or outright deadness (Romans 9:1).

“And the Lord said, My Spirit will not always strife with man…” (Genesis 6:3). This scripture implies that there would be a time when the Spirit of God would “strife” with you. He would try to stop you from going overboard. He would try to stop you from doing what is against the will of God for you even if it does not look sinful. You need to yield to the Holy Spirit, else He gives up as you grieve Him (Ephesians 4:30).

Sometimes, when you hear people say that they do not feel anything when they do what is obviously wrong, you are dealing with people whose conscience has been affected. When someone breaks a Church, rapes a lady, or tells a lie without any ill feeling, that person’s conscience needs help. For David, he only cut the skirt of Saul, and his heart smote him (1 Samuel 24:5).

Perhaps, David was a man after God’s heart because he made his heart responsive to God; he maintained a conscience that is alive (1 Samuel 13:14, 2 Samuel 12:13, Acts 13:22). It was not automatic as reflected in his prayers; “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there is any wicked way in me…” (Psalms 139:23-24). You can make this your prayer too. Amen.

© ‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria