Our consciences can produce a lot of false guilt which can be used to keep us from victory in our lives

1. Spiritual Warfare 9Spiritual Warfare 9
Surviving a ShipwreckSurviving a Shipwreck

2. Unmet Desires
Confusion
Hopelessness
Fear
Anger
Shame/Guilt
It is during our creative phase that we
need to know God’s word, the wrong
understanding of God’s word will
make it easier to fail as we wait on
God

3. Consequences!!!
More PAIN

4. Emptiness
Jeremiah 2:13
Emotional Pain
Ephesians 4:26-27
Bitterness
Hebrews
12:15
Shipwreck your
faith 1 Timothy
1:18-19
Gives Satan
a foothold
Eph 4:26-27

5. Shipwreck Ahoy
holding on to faith and a good
conscience, which some have
rejected and so have suffered
shipwreck with regard to the
faith. 1 Tim 1:19

6. Continue to trust in God
and do what you know is
right. Some people have
not done this, and their
faith is now in ruins.

7. keeping your faith [leaning
completely on God with
absolute trust and confidence in
His guidance] and having a
good conscience; for some
[people] have rejected [their
moral compass] and have
made a shipwreck of their faith.

8. So, what is this shipwreck?
It’s the pushing away of a good
conscience. So that a good
conscience becomes a bad
conscience.

9. Should we
follow our
conscience?

10. Take Paul's example!
Acts 23:1 Then Paul, looking
intently at the Council (Sanhedrin,
Jewish High Court), said,
“Kinsmen, I have lived my life
before God with a perfectly good
conscience until this very day.”

11. But don’t follow his example.
Acts 26:9 “So then, I [once]
thought to myself that it was
my duty to do many things in
opposition to the name of
Jesus of Nazareth.

12. Tip #1
Our conscience
is a tool, and
only a tool

13. Our conscience is a tool
As a general rule it should
be followed
But there are many
exceptions

14. Our conscience is a tool
It is not divine…it must be
renewed like any other part of
our mind.

15. Our conscience is a tool
It is not divine…it must be
renewed like any other part of
our mind.
It is often wrong

16. Our conscience is a tool
It is not divine…it must be
renewed like any other part of
our mind.
It is often wrong
It produces false guilt, which is
not very beneficial

17. In the New Testament you
find the conscience mentioned
many different ways

18. The Conscience is complex
It manages:
Learning and living ideals/values
Discovering personal truth
Doing good and loving
Evaluating behavior and
attitudes and values

19. Can you see the problem?
Or should I say, some of the
problems?

20. It’s subjective
Each one of our consciences are
different
We all produce guilt and shame
and hatred for different reasons,
and have different ideals – We all
respond differently

21. Talk briefly about guilt
Its one of the Devil’s biggest tools
True Guilt
False Guilt
The difference?

22. True Guilt
This is the work of God in our
hearts cause we have sinned
To the pure, all things are pure, but
to the defiled and unbelieving,
nothing is pure; but both their
minds and their consciences are
defiled. Titus 1:15

23. False Guilt
This is the guilt we produce
ourselves, often with the help of
Satan, in order to condemn us and
weaken us.
Guilt by confusion

24. However, not all [believers] have
this knowledge. But some, being
accustomed [throughout their lives]
to [thinking of] the idol until now [as
real and living], still eat food as if it
were sacrificed to an idol; and
because their conscience is weak,
it is defiled (guilty, ashamed).
1 Corinthians 8:7

25. Unlike real guilt, false guilt has no
basis in reality…it is the product of the
conscience being uninformed
Examples: Perfectionist making a
mistake…….Student getting a bad
mark on his exam……Expecting more
from yourself….Not getting others
approval……Being hypersensitive
cause of a critical parent…Getting
fired from a job…Yelling…etc

26. What to do?
1)A conscience must be trained
Psalm 119:11 Your word have I hid in
my heart that I might not sin against
you.
An untrained conscience is a weak
conscience…a trained conscience is a
discerning conscience

27. What to do?
2) Let God control your life
Do not get drunk with wine, for that is
wickedness (corruption, stupidity), but
be filled with the [Holy] Spirit and
constantly guided by Him.
People who can be shipwrecked need
others approval, sensitive to criticism,
sometimes easy to manipulate

28. What to do?
3) Learn to say “NO” People will
understand
Proverbs 18:15 An intelligent heart
acquires knowledge, and the ear of the
wise seeks knowledge.
People who can be shipwrecked have a
problem saying NO.

29. What to do?
4) Respect other peoples conscience
I Cor 8:9 But be careful with your
freedom. Your freedom to eat anything
may make those who have doubts
about what they can eat fall into sin.
People who can be shipwrecked are
often pushed over the edge

30. What to do?
5) Push your conscience into obedience
Acts 10:9-16 “By no means Lord, for I
have never eaten anything that is
common or unclean.”
People who can be shipwrecked prefer
to fix anything except themselves