Knowing What’s Right

 

“I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.”

—Psalm 40:8

How do we know what’s the right thing to do? Whenever we’re faced with a decision concerning right and wrong, we almost always know what choice is the right one to make. We know right from wrong. We often call that inward knowledge our “conscience.”

One of the attributes that clinically defines a sociopath is someone who knows right from wrong, but doesn’t care which choice he or she makes. Some describe that “I could care less” attitude as a lack of empathy. A sociopath does not care about the feelings or safety of any other person. Yes, he or she can learn to fake a sense of empathy. In fact, many sociopaths become very good at faking how they really feel. But, ultimately, a sociopath will disclose his or her lack of empathy.

For those of us not afflicted by the untreatable mental illness of the sociopath—and make no mistake, for while most mental illnesses can be cured or controlled, there is no cure or control for the sociopath—we rely on our conscience to dictate to us what is right and what is wrong.

Now in actual practice, to satisfy our selfish wills, we may purposefully choose to do the wrong thing. That’s what sin is all about. The sin nature we inherited from our parents, and they from theirs all the way back to Adam, pushes us to choose what we want to do, even when we know it’s wrong.

When we become Christians, through the love of God expressed in His Son, Jesus’ death on the cross in our behalf and through Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us and He takes over our conscience. In a very real sense our conscience becomes sanctified, that is, made holy. Now we not only know the difference between right and wrong, we also know the difference between what pleases God and what doesn’t please Him.

This powerful new knowledge is expressed by King David in these words found in Psalm 40:8:

I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.

God creates in us an overwhelming awareness of His law. He plants the knowledge of His will for us in our hearts. He guides our thinking in new ways. We become new creations of His mercy, grace, and love.

How comforting, as we begin a new day, to realize that the choices we make are continually under the guardianship of the Holy Spirit. We need to pause and listen to His voice speaking deep within our minds and hearts. If we make God’s will our will, then we will know what choices will please Him. And, we will become vessels of His love and grace to those around us.

 

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