There’s an interesting statement made in 1 John 3 that goes like this: “If our conscience is clear, we can come to God with perfect assurance and trust.”
Two words that stand out there are conscience and perfect. If our conscience is clear (and whose is?) we can come to God with perfect assurance and trust. Maybe that’s the key, isn’t it – to learn to listen to our conscience, our inner voice; that part of us created in the image of God that allows us to be more than mere mortals.
I asked four questions this morning to help people get a sense of how much we live outside ourselves. I asked:
- Am I driven by the need to fix others?
- Do I ignore my internal sensors, like my conscience?
- Do I avoid disciplines aimed at long-term gains? Do I live on the basis of my emotions alone?
- Do I assume I can go on this way indefinitely?
These are the ways in which we choose to live our lives on the outside of ourselves so we won’t have to face ourselves. But until we face ourselves our conscience will never be clear and we will never attain the one thing we want more thank anything in life: perfect assurance and trust in God and His love, grace, and His promises.
Today we talked about learning to listen to our lives: to our motives, to our emotions, to our relationships around us, and to our inner voice – our spirit.
If you are a person overcome by hurry, worry, and speed; if you’re worn out at the end of every day, confused, or feel stuck, this talk is just for you.