… and a good conscience …
Summary: Having a good conscience is another way of saying we are protecting our heart from being hurt by our own hand.
Let’s begin by putting today’s passage back into context:
“Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience …” (1 Timothy 1:18-19)
The command?
Tell “certain people” that they are not to teach false doctrine. (1 Timothy 1:3)
Guess what? Paul knows that is not going to be an easy command to follow. Confronting others about “false doctrine” is a kind of “battle.” It is not the kind we see on the news where people are hurting each other physically and blowing things up. Instead, it is a test of wills and convictions.
But there is another layer to this story.
Somebody had prophesied over Timothy in the past. Paul may have even been present to hear it personally.* The prophesy must have had something to do with Timothy’s life work for the Lord and how he would “fight the battle well” while keeping his conscience clear before the Lord.
Think about what that means!
How do you confront someone about false doctrine without making it personal?
The answer has to do with being Christ-like. Jesus taught us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48). That makes standing against false doctrine especially challenging. Even if we are not debating theology, but just trying to live a godly life, standing tall in an ungodly world can be challenging.
The temptation is to let our emotions control our words and actions. The risk is that we cross the line in the process and disobey our God. Jesus reframed Old Testament law. Instead of setting the bar for judgement at “murder,” Jesus lowered the bar to simply being “angry.”
Now we realize that it is what God sees in our hearts that is what we are judged on more than what we do with our hands and words. Jesus is simply reminding us of what was written centuries before:
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Proverbs 4:23)
As the Lord explained to Samuel many years ago:
“The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
Application: Love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39)
Food for Thought: We all know what a guilty conscience feels like, but how do we avoid doing things that cause a guilty conscience?
*Obviously, this is speculation on my part.
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