A Clear Conscience

3. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.

1 Corinthians 4:3-4 (NIV)

When a person knows they are guilty of what they are accused of, it only takes someone to look at them for them to feel attacked. If they see two people talking and one of them looks at them, even for a split second, they convince themselves that it's them they're talking about, even if the conversation didn't concern them. Their guilt gnaws at them so much that they even defend themselves against their own thoughts.

In his letter to the Corinthians, exhorting them and reminding them of the teaching they had received from him, and knowing that some false teachers were seeking to discredit him, Paul did not hesitate for a moment to defend his faith by invoking the validity of his vocation and the authenticity of his message, which is Jesus Christ. This is an attitude every believer should adopt when faced with someone who seeks to tarnish their reputation. Convinced of his faith in God and his example of life, he should not be afraid of the gaze of others. Even though Paul knows he has nothing to reproach himself for before men, he knows he will never be pure in God's eyes. This is why he did not hesitate to say that even if his conscience is clear, he is no more innocent than they are.

He does not mean that, like them, he leads a sinful life that displeases God. On the contrary, he remembers that before his call, the consuming fire he felt in wanting to imprison all those who followed Jesus was not in accordance with God's will. As a Christian, are you an example to those who observe you, or are you afraid of what they will say about you? If you act according to the teachings of God's Word, you will have no worries, because even those who would discredit you would feel bad. But if you live according to the flesh, be sure that even your family will have something to say about you.

May the grace and peace of God be with you all.