To Please Jehovah, Keep Training Your Conscience

1. What is the conscience, and how can it help us to please Jehovah?

JEHOVAH has given us the ability to examine our actions and our attitude and to judge whether they are right or wrong. That ability is called the conscience, and it is a wonderful gift from God. (Rom. 2:14, 15) When our conscience is molded by good influences, it can help us to make wise decisions that please Jehovah. But we do well to remember that our conscience is susceptible to harmful influences.

2. What can our conscience move us to do?

² A well-trained conscience can do more than merely let us know whether the actions we have taken are good or bad. It can also move us to avoid what is bad and to “cling to what is good.” (Rom. 12:9) In this article, we will consider how our conscience can protect us. We will also discuss factors that can influence our conscience.

YOUR CONSCIENCE CAN PROTECT YOU

3-4. (a) How is the conscience similar to a smoke detector, and how is it different? (See also picture.) (b) Illustrate how a Bible-trained conscience can protect us.

³ The conscience can be compared to a smoke detector​—but with a significant difference. Like the conscience, a smoke detector can alert you to danger. But it is activated only after smoke is detected. By that time, fire may already have caused damage. A Bible-trained conscience works far better because it can sound an alarm before we do something wrong and damage our relationship with Jehovah. The conscience can alert us to potential dangers, thus protecting us from taking wrong steps that could even lead to serious sin.

⁴ To illustrate, imagine the following scenario. A young brother moves to a new area. Naturally, he wants to make friends. There are some young people his age in the congregation. They invite him to a gathering, and he gladly accepts. He notices, though, that a few who are there have little respect for Jehovah’s standards regarding morals and the use of alcohol. Will he pursue a friendship with those troubled youths? Of course not! His conscience has sounded the alarm, and he will heed the warning. Those early warnings from his conscience will protect him from going down a road that might lead to serious sin.​—Jas. 1:14, 15.

5-6. How did Adam and Eve fail to please Jehovah?

⁵ In some situations, Jehovah clearly tells us what is right and what is wrong. (Isa. 33:22) That was the case with Adam and Eve. God told them that it would be wrong for them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and bad. (Gen. 2:17) In fact, God commanded them not even to touch the tree. (Gen. 3:3) So when a lowly serpent told Eve that she would be better-off if she disobeyed Jehovah, she evidently chose to ignore her conscience. She knew that it was wrong to eat the fruit. She should have rejected the serpent’s prodding! Instead, Eve gave in to that harmful influence and sinned against God.

⁶ What about Adam? “Adam was not deceived” by the serpent. (1 Tim. 2:14) Adam’s conscience should have moved him to obey Jehovah regardless of what Eve did. Instead, he went against what he knew to be right and ate the fruit. As a result of the disobedience of our first human parents, “sin entered into the world . . . and so death spread to all men because they had all sinned.” (Rom. 5:12) We can learn from their bad example. To avoid giving in to sin, we must listen to our conscience.

DISCERN JEHOVAH’S WILL

7. What can we learn from the advice found at Ephesians 5:15-17?

⁷ As was the case with Adam and Eve, in some aspects of life Jehovah tells us specifically what is right and what is wrong. In other areas, there is no precise Bible law that tells us what to do. So we need to “keep perceiving what the will of Jehovah is.” (Read Ephesians 5:15-17.) The choices we make will either please or displease Jehovah. Our conscience can help us to perceive what Jehovah’s will is and act in harmony with it.

8. What factors could explain why two Christians can make different choices when facing a similar situation and still act with a clean conscience?

⁸ How can we make a decision when a situation is not covered by a specific Bible law? In such a case, Christians must use their Bible-trained conscience. Often there are many factors to consider when deciding what to do, such as our motives, our intentions, and the local culture. Two Christians who are in a similar situation may make different decisions. Yet, if their choices are in harmony with Bible principles, both individuals can act with a clean conscience and please Jehovah.

9. In two different scenarios involving toasting and clinking glasses, how can the words found at Galatians 6:4 be applied? (See also pictures.)

⁹ Consider the following situations. Two mature Christians, each attending a separate work-related event, are invited by their respective employers to raise or clink their glasses at a dinner. Each of them lives in a land where toasting is widely viewed as an expression of courtesy and good etiquette. In one scenario, the brother joins in the toast because he realizes that the reason for the toast is simply to celebrate a milestone that the company has reached. In the other scenario, the Christian declines to join in. He wonders, ‘Could my employer’s words be considered nationalistic?’ The brother fears that his neutrality might be compromised. But the goal of both brothers is to please Jehovah by acting in harmony with his will.​—Read Galatians 6:4.

TRAIN YOUR POWERS OF DISCERNMENT

10-11. According to Hebrews 5:13, 14, how will “solid food” help a Christian to train his conscience?

¹⁰ At Hebrews 5:13, 14, we find expressions that relate to training the conscience. (Read.) Although the word “conscience” is not used in those verses, we understand that the goal is for us to be trained “to distinguish both right and wrong.” That is what the conscience does. In order to train the conscience, we need “solid food.” What does that mean?

¹¹ “Solid food” represents substantial or deeper truths that spiritually “mature people” can understand. (1 Cor. 2:14, 15) Such “solid food” includes Bible principles. When there is no specific Bible law to govern a certain situation, a Christian may consider the principles involved and come to a conclusion that will please Jehovah.​—Prov. 2:4, 5.

12. What do the expressions “mature people” and “through use” found at Hebrews 5:14 mean?

¹² Because they understand Jehovah’s personality and his thinking, “mature people”​—that is, those who have trained their conscience according to Bible principles—​can actually anticipate how their actions might affect Jehovah. They make it a habit to consider godly principles whenever they have a decision to make. Thus, they train their powers of discernment “through use” to distinguish both right and wrong.

BEWARE OF INFLUENCES THAT COULD AFFECT YOUR CONSCIENCE

13. What could happen if the conscience is not trained?

¹³ The conscience is not an infallible guide. If we do not train our conscience by considering Bible principles, something else will influence it. (1 Tim. 4:1, 2) The conscience can be influenced by such things as false religious beliefs, prejudices, and wrong desires. (Isa. 5:20) It can also be affected by inherited or acquired negative traits​—such as greed, pride, and selfishness. Further, if we use the wrong standards to judge what is right and what is wrong, our conscience will be a poor guide.

14. (a) What could have influenced Adam and Eve to act contrary to their conscience? (b) Give examples of individuals who failed to train their conscience to please Jehovah. (See the box “They Failed to Train Their Conscience.”)

¹⁴ In Eve’s case, it seems that she allowed greed and pride to blur her view of who has the right to set the standard of good and bad. She became dissatisfied with all that Jehovah had given her. She wanted to be like God. As for Adam, he selfishly placed his desire to be with Eve above pleasing Jehovah. The Bible record provides other examples of individuals who had accurate knowledge of Jehovah but allowed their conscience to be influenced by greed, pride, or selfishness.

15. What else could damage our conscience, and what are we urged to do?

¹⁵ Our conscience can also be damaged by bad associations. (1 Cor. 15:33) People who are alienated from God and have an insensitive heart can pose a great danger to those who want to do what is right. Appropriately, the Bible urges us to avoid those who walk “in the futility of their minds” and who are “in darkness mentally.” (Eph. 4:17-19) For that reason, we do well to “turn away” from them.​—2 Tim. 3:1-5.

ALLOW JEHOVAH TO MOLD YOUR CONSCIENCE

16. When can the conscience be especially helpful in pleasing Jehovah? (See the box “Understanding the Boundaries of Your Conscience.”)

¹⁶ Although imperfect, the conscience can help us to please Jehovah. It can be especially helpful in areas that are not covered by specific commands in God’s Word. (1 Cor. 10:31) But only a conscience that is trained by Scriptural principles will function properly. Such a conscience will help us to remain balanced and will please Jehovah.

17. In harmony with Romans 12:2, how does Jehovah train us?

¹⁷ Jehovah can teach us his way of thinking. He can help us to mold or transform our mind if we submit to his training. (Isa. 64:8; read Romans 12:2.) The entire Bible record provides this training by teaching us about Jehovah’s dealings with his people through the ages. (2 Tim. 3:16) Best of all, we can learn Jehovah’s way of thinking by studying Jesus’ teachings and example.​—1 Cor. 2:16.

18. What can lead to a happy, successful life and “a clean conscience”?

¹⁸ We can strengthen our conscience by avoiding harmful influences. We can train our perceptive powers to distinguish right from wrong by immersing ourselves in God’s Word. (Ps. 1:1-3) As a result, we will lead a happy, successful life as we serve Jehovah “with a clean conscience.”​—2 Tim. 1:3.