And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. — Acts 23:1
If you are like me, you can no doubt reflect on many times in your life when you wish you had made a different decision. Moments that you had the ability to choose and do what was right. Instead, you made a decision that was the wrong one. Each of those decisions affects us in different ways.
Sometimes, we make decisions, and even if they are the wrong ones, they have minimal impact. For example, perhaps you choose to eat soup versus salad. When you get the meal, it wasn’t what you expected and you realize you made a wrong decision. But other times, we make one and realize the big impact that it could have. It leaves us with those thoughts in our conscience.
In this verse, Paul shares that up until this day, he lived his life with a good conscience. That is an impressive statement for someone who lived their life to persecute Christians up until his conversion. But Paul is not saying he was perfect. He is saying that since he gave his life to Christ, he has tried to do what is right.
Living with a good conscience requires persistence. It is not living for God selectively but living for God daily in every aspect of life. It is involving Him in every decision and every moment that you may face.
If your Christian life were to be judged, could you boldly proclaim, as Paul did, that you have lived every moment for Christ? Most of us would not be able to say that. But we can still live with good conscience by confessing those times to God and striving to include Him in everything in our lives.
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