Paul writes in Romans 14, “One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind” (14:3, 5). Paul is dealing here with the conscience.
The conscience is a gift from the Lord that helps us be conscious of what we believe is right and wrong. Therefore, it may not always be wise to let our conscience be our guide, as Jiminy Cricket taught Pinocchio. And at other times, we don’t listen to our conscience when we should. Because of the importance of the conscience, we need to have a thoughtful and biblical instruction on what the conscience is. Therefore, we recommend to you, Andy Nasellei and J.D. Crowley’s book, Conscience: what it is, how to train it and loving those who differ.
In the church, there are always issues of conscience coming up. We see this in the early church, and we see it in our church today. Often times, conflict, frustration and disagreement arise over issues of conscience. Studying what God’s Word says about the conscience will help you have a Biblically calibrated conscience and will help you love well those who may have different convictions than you do. We want to have the mindset Paul encourages us towards in Romans 14, to not live for ourselves, but for the Lord (14:7-8).