ARE YOU MAKING THIS MISTAKE WITH YOUR CONSCIENCE?
Two days ago, we drove out of the house to run a couple of errands. While we were on the highway, we noticed that we couldn’t hear the audible clicking noise that emanated from putting on the turn signal. We checked the car’s dashboard and also noticed that the typical blinking arrows that came on when a turn signal was on were absent. We immediately suspected that our turn signals had stopped doing their job. We panicked. What if a car bumped into us from the back while we were about to make a turn because they didn’t see any turn signal on? What if we got pulled-over by the police? Thoughts ran through our head like waves in a torrent. Then we remembered something. We remembered that when we were reading for our driving test, there was a part that said apart from using the in-built car turn signals, you could indicate when you want to make a turn by a show of hand. So we took down our door glass and our hand became the official trafficators. We would send our left hand out and indicate when we were to change a lane or make a turn. We are pretty sure some road users who saw us send out our hand thought we were giving them the “good luck sign”.Anyways, as we kept doing that, we gradually became weary. Then we started “forgetting” to send out the hand at times and by the time we returned home, we had almost completely stopped using our hand as a turn signal.Here is the thing: we no longer panicked about an accident. We no longer worried about the police. We gradually became complacent and it almost felt like the car was okay. Almost. Our conscience no longer pricked us as much.Sometimes, we start doing something we KNOW isn’t right for us to do like ignoring the laundry. The first time we tried it, we just couldn’t live life beautifully, knowing that we had clothes to wash/fold. Then we tried it again and it didn’t feel so uncomfortable. And now…This kitchen is a semi-okrika seller, who digs into rumpled mountains of clothing to find appropriate wears for her clients (the girls). We just discovered that having loads of untreated laundry have become our new norm. Though we didn’t choose it, we gradually walked into it.Have you become weary of doing the right thing and become complacent? Have you gradually walked into a bad habit? It may be social media. You started by taking a few peeks into Facebook. Then you started spending more time on it. At first, you felt drained and unfulfilled thereafter but you kept on. Now, social media has become your new home and you are not guilty anymore.It may be your eating/drinking habits. You couldn’t eat too much sugar or drink alcohol. But you gradually walked in, abused them and got hooked.It may be the way you treat your body. You treated that body as the temple of the Holy Spirit. You didn’t let it get touched inappropriately or expose it inappropriately. But you started letting down your guards and your body became something different from the temple of the Holy Spirit.You see, habits are not formed in a day. We gradually walk into them. Just like we became comfortable with our failed turn signal, it is easy to get comfortable with the wrong things.Which wrong thing are you getting comfortable with right now? Do a self-check our friend and stop taking the wrong path now so your conscience doesn’t become seared/dead.“… and their consciences are dead.” 1 Timothy 4:2bA dead conscience no longer accuses you.A dead conscience makes you comfortable in the wrong thing.A dead conscience makes you believe a lie is true.A dead conscience is DANGEROUS. Are you letting your conscience die gradually? Are you making this mistake with your conscience?If you feel guilty about this, here are some steps to help you:
- Ask God to forgive you.
- Set realistic goals to help you combat the bad habit.
- Don’t go back.
