(Your conscience, like the Liahona, works based on the heed and diligence you give to it.)

Our conscience is one of the greatest gifts we have from God and can guide us to a life of peace and joy and eternal life to come! Therefore, I thought it worth while to share some truth and wisdom on the topic. 

I wrote the following in my blog: (Intellectual Honesty) “…the greatest gift God has given mankind, next to free will and our physical bodies, is our conscience. This is our guiding force. Ignoring it has devastating consequences! While following it brings the most joyous and rewarding benefits. You might say that your conscience is your true self or true voice.” What an immense blessing to have a conscience – something to guide us on the path of life! From my earliest memories at age 3, I wanted to be good and do good. This desire has assisted me on my life’s path. However, I’ve made my share of mistakes and have sinned. I’ve ignored my conscience on more than one occasion. This has caused me painful regret! If, however, we can always follow our conscience than we can avoid the pain that comes from sin and have a life full of peace and even joy. 

The Book of Mormon tells us that the Liahona, also referred to as a compass, worked based on the heed, faith, and diligence that Lehi and his family gave unto it. When they were faithful the Liahona would point the way that they should travel in the wilderness keeping them away from danger and in the more fertile parts of the land. But when they forgot their God and lost faith, the Liahona would stop working and they were left to their own devices. This caused them to “wander” in the wilderness without direction, losing precious time and resources. In my book, Look up and Live, I share this thought: “Like the Liahona, our conscience works based on the heed and diligence we give to it.” Like any skill, we have to hone ourselves to be more aware of and listen to our conscience. It takes a little concentration and a lot of intellectual honesty, but it’s not difficult to tune into our conscience and follow its direction. However, if we ignore our conscience it becomes a burden to us. If we continue to ignore it it becomes nearly impossible to hear it. And then if we ignore it long enough we can actually kill it, so to speak. 

What is heed and diligence? 

Heed:

1. Caution; care; watch for danger; notice; circumspection.
2. Notice; observation; regard; attention.
3. Seriousness; a steady look.

Diligence:

1. Steady application in business of any kind; constant effort to accomplish what is undertaken; exertion of body or mind without unnecessary delay or sloth; due attention; industry; assiduity.

So, it appears that great care is to be given toward our conscience. We must pay close attention to it and take it seriously! It takes a constant effort and even exertion on our part. In other words, it is NOT something that is whimsical or that we should take lightly! As with any gift given from a loved one, it should be precious to us and treated with the most delicate care. 

I’ve often pondered on the awe and majesty of God’s love for us! These musings have brought me to an even greater appreciation for my own conscience. Think about it for a moment. Even for those who have never heard of Jesus Christ or who have a false view of God, because of the error of their fore-bearers, they still have a way to know what is right and what is wrong, giving them the opportunity to choose which they will follow. Because choosing good brings us peace and joy, and because God our Father wants us all to have that peace and joy, he gave each of us a conscience. This wonderful gift can guide us in the more fertile parts of the land, so to speak, bringing us to precious fresh water springs and food sources. It can keep us from wandering aimlessly without direction. It can give us peace as we follow the direction given. And by following it, we can return to our eternal father with confidence that we did our best to follow His plan – to be good and do good. 

One thing that fascinates and even perplexes me is how many people seem to want to choose evil. These are our brothers and sisters who stood by us with God and Christ in the pre-mortal world and said, “yes, we love you and your plan and will follow it.” But once they got to earth, they seem to have a change of heart and would rather choose evil over good and God. Some of this is because of the incorrect teaching of their parents. Some results from the teachings of the world. And sometimes people are sinning so loudly that they can’t hear their own conscience. And then there are others who blatantly teach false doctrines. I read of a couples Theropist that recommends infidelity in marriage to “strengthen” the marriage. Now, as Matt Walsh said in one of his articles, “a couples Theropist who recommends infidelity is like a nutritionist who recommends a diet of coke and Doritos.” It’s absurd! But again, our conscience is designed to help us see through the absurd so we aren’t fooled by the cunning of the adversary. 

The biggest reason we fail to follow our own conscience is “lust”. We want what we want and there are times we will do anything to get what we want. In order to do this the first thing we have to do is to ignore our own conscience. Then we can get on with doing the thing we lust for. James, the brother of Jesus said this about lust: “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” I love this scripture because James really gets to the heart of the issue and is very clear in his explanation of lust and the results of it. Temptation is born of lust. If we can master ourself and conquer lust, we will never be tempted and never sin.  But, alas, we know that is not very likely. Temptation is all around us. Satan makes even the most evil acts seem fun and rewarding. I wrote about a couple of these practices in my blog, “Lust and Perversion is not Love and Commitment.” There has to be a perceived reward or there would not be any temptation. But as James points out, we are tempted when we are drawn away of our own lust. Everyone of us have our own struggles, lusts, and temptations. If we give into them, the result is death. Death of our spiritual sensitivities and eventually a permanent separation from God. Which is what death really is. It takes constant heed and diligence to master our lusts or the natural man within us. If we couldn’t do it, this life and God’s plan would be futile. But it’s not futile and we can all master lust or the desires of the natural man. 

So, as we see, our conscience is one of the greatest gifts we’ve been given from our eternal father in heaven. When followed it brings us great peace and joy! As we give it the proper heed and diligence we gain great moral strength and become men and women of God! I’m so grateful for this wonderful gift!

(G. Dean Wessendorf – © 2020)

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