What the Bible Says About the Conscience and Guilt: Training the Conscience, Handling Guilt

One of the most useful tools God has created within us to help us deal with spiritual growth is the conscience. It is an often-misunderstood feature of the human mind, and frequently not used in the ways it was intended to be used. This book will explore this amazing gift of the conscience. We will consider what the Bible says about how to train and use it while in the process of being molded into God’s image for His glory. Since the conscience is the mechanism within the human mind which produces either peace or guilt for any given thought or action, understanding and responding Biblically to peace and guilt are crucial to spiritual growth, stability, and maturity. The value of this conscience study lies primarily in two areas for most believers. First, it helps us be more intentional and focused in developing the proper conscience inputs so that our internal standard becomes more and more in tune with God’s character and desires for us. Secondly, it helps us identify and deal with guilt. It seems that many Christians struggle with guilt, carrying it long after it should be released. For this reason, it will be helpful to examine cases in Scripture where people incurred guilt to see the causes of guilt and how the people involved dealt with that guilt. God has given us the conscience to help us develop patterns of increasing obedience as we grow. It is a tool to be trained and used for righteousness, and not one to keep us burdened under a load of guilt. Living in the freedom and power of forgiveness is not a minimizing of sin, it’s a magnifying of grace. May we continue to learn and grow by God’s grace using this tool He designed within us.