A Cleared Conscience

"When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long." -Psalm 32:3

Our 3-year-old granddaughter can be rather fearless at times.  We have to insist on holding her hand while walking in the parking lot or along a brick wall.  But there are times she acts afraid and becomes clingy.  I know these fears are instilled in her by adults cautioning her about this or that in order to protect her from putting herself in harm's way.  

Life does this to us, as well it should, or humans would become extinct pretty quickly.  But there are many fears that are harmful to our becoming who God created us to be.  We can live our lives from a place of love or a place of fear.  It's one or the other at any given time.  If it's from a place of fear, you will experience anger, sadness, apathy.  If we are honest with ourselves we would realize that negative emotions all start from a place of fear.  For instance when we become angry it's because we feel threatened in some way.  When we are sad we are afraid we can't survive with our loss.  Apathy is when we're afraid nothing will change so we give up.  Positive emotions, however, like joy, come from a place of love because we feel secure---it's safe to be ourselves, to enjoy our lives, etc.

This is why King David was in agony until He confessed his sin to God and received His forgiveness.  To live from a place of Love is to have a clear conscience--otherwise, our conscience will condemn us.  To feel condemned is to live in a place of fear.  The GOOD NEWS is that Jesus Christ paid for all our sins in order that we may live with a cleared conscience.  Furthermore, He was raised from the dead so that we might have His Life in us.  All we need do is admit our need for this transaction and live each day in His Righteous.  With a cleared conscience we can experience what is known as Freedom in Christ.  We are freed to love because we no longer need to hide from life by blaming others or making excuses.  Instead we can take our failures, our missteps to God, and lay them at His feet and He will lift us up and "hide" us in His loving arms where we will feel secure.  We will no longer feel the need to lash out or protect ourselves in ways that cut us off from others.  Just like children who have been given a secure childhood, we can "grow up" to love and make a difference in a world that runs on fear.

What would you do differently if you were no longer afraid?

Father, it is far too easy to become fearful when all around are acting afraid.  Help me to stay in YOUR hiding place so that I may be a Light in an ever-darkening world. 

Link to Scripture:  Psalm 32:7

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