Conscience

Conscience means a knowledge of one's own acts as right or wrong.  Just picture the cartoons where a person has an angel standing on one shoulder whispering in one ear while a little devil if enticing in the other ear.  This is such a part of our cultural heritage these images pop up everywhere:

If you google "conscience" and look at images you will find many like those above.  However, I think those pictures are probably more of our agency and having to choose between good and evil than they are of our conscience.  Our conscience is more an inner ear - a message you get from your own knowing - that something is right or wrong.  We say "Listen to yourself."  "Trust your feelings." because often that inner voices comes through how a situation makes you feel.

If you look at the writings of the Apostle Paul, you'll find a lovely description as he came to understand that some people who don't even have the Gospel in their lives, still are making good choices.

Romans 2:14 - 15 

For when the gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves.

Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, while their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another.

Usually when you say someone is a "law unto themselves" you mean they don't follow the rules or the laws but do just as they want.  This is not what Paul is meaning.  He is saying they haven't been taught the laws of the Gospel, but that same law is inside of them and they are recognizing it.

My favorite scripture about this idea that the law is in us is in found in D&C 84:46

And the spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world and the spirit lighteneth every man through the world, that hearkeneth to the voice of the spirit. And everyone that harkeneth to the voice of the spirit, cometh unto God. . .

There is an inner voice that is our divine connection to God. The problem is that that voice can be:

1. Be silent because others in our lives teach to not trust it

2. Or that we ignore it so often that we finally don't hear it at all.

But healthy people learn to listen and trust that voice. They may call it "my conscience" or "my intuition". They may say "I just know".

Much like the spirit, we hear our inner voice in our quiet moments when we take the time to listen.  That is just one of the many reasons that I believe in meditation.  We all need time to be alone, to be quiet, and to just listen - to God and to ourselves.

I love looking for quotes on the internet.  As I googled conscience I found these.  I believe that those who have learned to listen to that inner voice have come to appreciate it's value in our lives.

I was especially touched by this last one:  A conscience without God is like a court without a judge.  I'm not sure that I like his analogy as much as that it triggered a thought in me.  My most painful experiences in life have been those times when I didn't listen to my conscience and I realized that I was SO out of integrity with myself.  Those times taught to appreciate the message of love and forgiveness that the Savior offers to each of us.  It was through Him that I found peace in coming to grips with my own weaknesses and failings.  So I like this thought - that God would not have given us a conscience without also giving us a way to gain relief from the pain of facing ourselves.  That is so consistent with my understanding that the Gospel plan from the very beginning included a Savior!