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The Key to a Clear Conscience

I have discovered as I grow older in Christ Jesus and wiser in all things spiritual, that one of the best possessions any person can have is a clear conscience. You feel good. I mean, you really feel good. You can let folks say about you whatever they will and it is of little consequence.

The key to a clear conscience is to know where you stand in the Lord. When you know where you stand; when you know you have not done anything to anybody, when you know that you are not running around sneaking and hiding, slipping and sliding, lying and cheating, when you know and God knows that you are climbing high mountains trying to make heaven your home, when you know and God knows that you are running up the King's highway, then like the Psalmist, you can smile as the heathens rage; you can hold your head up high. I give praises to God and thank Him today that by His grace alone, I can boast of a clear conscience. It feels good.

I look at people sometimes who I know are against me (they may not know that I know, but God has revealed it to me). I look at them and think about some of the lying nasty things they have said about me or some of the subtle things they have done to try and hurt me. But I thank God that I can hold my head up high because as the Psalmist said:

When my enemies came upon me to eat of my flesh, they stumbled and fell?The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. For one thing have I desired of the Lord and that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

And you know what David said? He said, Teach me, teach me, teach me Thy way O Lord and lead me in a plain path because of my enemies.

David went on to say, I would have fell along the way, given up, thrown the towel in ? had I not seen the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

A clear conscience. If you do not have it, you ought to get it. Get rid of the mess in your life that is causing you to have a guilty conscience. Throw out the garbage; get rid of the trash. Get rid of the burden of an unclear conscience.

With a clear conscience, you can look folks in the eye while others are holding their heads down and shifting their vision. You can make eye contact with them because you know you have not done anything to them. This is why Jesus said, "love your enemies" and "be good to those who despitefully use you ? because at the end of the road, you can hold your head up high. You do not have to apologize for your actions because you know you were not in the mess ? but you overcame because instead of hate, you practiced love.

Rev. Saundra L. Washington, D.D., is an ordained clergywoman, veteran social worker, and Founder of AMEN Ministries. She is also the author of two coffee table books: Room Beneath the Snow: Poems that Preach and Negative Disturbances: Homilies that Teach which can be reviewed on her site. Her new book, Out of Deep Waters: My Grief Management Workbook, is expected to be available soon.

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Blessings to all!