THE ORIGIN OF OUR MORAL CONSCIENCE

Matthew chapter 7




Today we are walking in: The Origin Of Our Moral Conscience







Habakkuk 2:2




And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, ​ and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
















VISION
















Today we look to the word​ VISION- H2377 chazown- vision(in ecstatic state)​, vision​s​ (in night)​, oracle, prophecy (divine communication)​, vision (as title of book of prophecy)​ ​from H2372; a sight (mentally), i.e. a dream, revelation, or oracle:—vision. to see, perceive, look, behold, prophesy, provide​, ​to see, behold​, to see as a seer in the ecstatic state​, to see, perceive with the intelligence​, to see (by experience)​, to provide



















The Torah testifies........




Numbers 24:4




He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw ​ the vision H2377 of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:




Numbers 24:16




He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the Most High, which saw ​the vision H2377 of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:



















The prophets proclaim.........

1​ ​Samuel 3:1




And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days;there was no open vision H2377. ​







Jeremiah 14:14




Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision H2377 ​ and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
















The writings bear witness.........




1​ ​Chronicles 17:15




According to all these words, and according to all this vision H2377, ​so did Nathan speak unto David.







Psalm 89:19




Then thou spakest in vision ​H2377 to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.









Chapter 7

The Origin of Our Moral Conscience




“If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover these precious values—that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control.”1

—Martin Luther King Jr.




Suppose you put your house on the market, after having just remodeled several rooms—creating a master-bedroom suite with a walk-in closet and a spa-like bathroom; installing custom-made cabinets, marble countertops, and new appliances in the kitchen; and converting the basement into an enormous family room. These improvements enabled you to raise your asking price considerably.




However, also suppose that the foundation of your home hadn’t been properly supported, so that it suddenly became severely cracked, causing the house to tilt; or, imagine that a sinkhole developed, so that your house slipped into a deep pit. Under those conditions, no one would want to buy it! You couldn’t even live in it yourself. If the house couldn’t be salvaged, your improvements to the interior would have been for nothing. In reality, a house is only as valuable as the strength of its foundation. And its foundation is only as strong as what it is built upon.




The Bedrock Beneath Character




A foundation anchors a house to the ground. Yet, that foundation will not be secure if it hasn’t been built upon solid rock, giving the house stability. Similarly, the anchor of a boat won’t keep the vessel from drifting out to sea if it is not embedded in rock. Yahusha of Nazareth told the following parable, unfolding a scenario similar to the one we looked at above:




I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.2




I wrote earlier that one of our greatest weaknesses as leaders is that our philosophical training about who we are as human beings—including our inherent purpose—has been severely deficient. We have accepted flawed philosophies perpetuated by our culture. These flawed philosophies were built on foundations that were not supported by “solid rock.”




Since character is the foundation of leadership, ask yourself, “On what have I constructed the current foundation of my beliefs, convictions, values, morals, and ethical code?” While you may embrace positive beliefs and values, have you built them on bedrock that is durable enough to keep the foundation of your character from cracking, sinking, or being swept away? In this chapter, we will consider the bedrock that our moral foundation must be anchored to in order to give our character lasting stability.




A Permanent Internal Guide




As we discuss the bedrock underneath character, let us begin with an inborn resource we all have: the conscience. To me, the conscience is like “default mode” in a computer. When people are unsure of what to do in a given situation, they may consult their conscience for direction. Or, when they are about to engage in a certain action, their conscience may suddenly rise up within them, giving them the conviction that the action is morally wrong, and they should not do it.




The word conscience is defined as “the sense or consciousness of the moral goodness or blameworthiness of one’s own conduct, intentions, or character together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good.” The conscience is a permanent internal guide for a leader. Our thoughts and decisions will be either confirmed or challenged by the requirements of our conscience. In our heart, or subconscious mind, we recognize where our motivations and behavior are aligned with our conscience and where they have veered from it.




The Conscience Manifests in Beliefs and Convictions




A principled leader will be led by his conscience. That is why great leaders have always made statements such as “I have to do this,” or “Even if you kill me, I cannot do that.” (Remember that leadership passion is a desire that is stronger than death.) These statements are declarations of conscience. The leaders’ consciences were speaking, and they were listening to them and following them. We need to ask ourselves, “Have I been listening to my conscience, or have I been ignoring it?”




Only when our beliefs align with our conscience can they manifest in strong convictions. And, as we know, convictions are what create our values, which become our moral standards, our ethics, and our character. In the end, our outward behavior is the product of our inner conscience. Remember that character is who we are when no one else is watching.




The Conscience Is Not the Same as the Emotions

Other people may not be able to observe our actions at all times, but our conscience is always aware of what we are doing. Since it is that part of us that counsels us concerning moral issues, I often refer to it as our moral conscience.




The moral conscience doesn’t have to do with “feelings,” as believed by some people who confuse the conscience with various emotions they experience. They will often rely on their feelings when making decisions, although emotions can be undependable when weighing options. Rather, the conscience is about conviction. The definition above referred to the conscience as a “sense or consciousness.” It is moral certainty about the rightness or wrongness of our thoughts or actions. Thus, the conscience is distinct from the emotions, although a sense of conviction can lead to various emotions. We must learn to distinguish between the two through a process of careful evaluation and personal experience.




In addition, a principled leader does not allow himself to be advised by the opinions of the “crowd” over the convictions of his own conscience. For example, a politician who follows his conscience would be willing to stick with his principles, even though it might mean losing an election. Many leaders today would rather follow the crowd. As a result, their character is compromised. They may have developed certain convictions, but their convictions are not based on ethical concerns. They are based on self- centered considerations such as those we looked at earlier—attaining a certain position, controlling others, gaining wealth, and so forth.



In such cases, these leaders have made a decision—consciously or subconsciously—that something else is more important than what their conscience is telling them. They make choices based on what feels good to them, or an aspiration to obtain something, or a desire for excitement. They make such choices because they don’t stop to think, check with their conscience, and reflect on the probable consequences of their actions.




The conscience is that part of us that counsels us concerning moral issues.




Ignoring the Conscience




Just as most leadership training today does not instruct people about character, it does not train people to follow their conscience. That crucial part of the human makeup is all but ignored. So, we produce leaders today who are not taught to value their conscience and to listen to it. Because of society’s confusion about values and the nature of the conscience, many people have a conscience that has become underactive. We must all train ourselves to listen to our conscience. Those who do so will safeguard themselves from making wrong choices that would hurt them and/or others.




A leader who actively ignores his conscience will reap serious consequences for himself and his followers. We can ignore our conscience to the point that it becomes dull. It is even possible to develop a “seared” conscience—one that has been disregarded and denied for so long that it has essentially been silenced. For example, this may be what occurs in the lives of those who run financial scams for decades, even though they know the devastation they are wreaking on their clients’ retirement funds.




Sometimes, we may wonder how people can commit acts that are outright evil. I believe the reason Adolf Hitler could have authorized the deaths of more than 10 million people in the Holocaust is that he ignored his conscience and chose to follow a contaminated philosophy. I don’t believe anyone could order the extermination of multitudes of people and not have his conscience rise up at some point. To do such things, you have to ignore your conscience, not allow it to speak, and eventually “sear” it, so that you no longer hear it.




What Is Our “True North”?




Our moral conscience is like a compass. But it has a “true north” that evaluates and confirms its accuracy so that we can be sure we are steering the right course. It is also the measure by which our thoughts and feelings should be assessed to see if they line up with moral convictions. This author identifies “true north” as Yah. And in this context, I am referring to the Yah of the Bible. It was He who gave us the conscience as an element of the divine part of our human makeup.




Consequently, a properly functioning conscience is in sync with correct moral code. Even when a person has little knowledge of Yah, he has the conscience as a built-in regulator, telling him, “This is wrong,” or “This is right,” or “This is beneficial,” or “This is not acceptable.” I’ve talked with some people who claimed that the immoral actions they were involved in were perfectly acceptable. Yet if their conscience was still awake, they were not being honest with themselves or with me. They had a specific motivation for wanting to engage in that immoral conduct, but it was not based on their conscience. I would prefer to have someone admit to me that he’s acting contrary to his conscience than to have him claim that his behavior is moral and try to convince me of that viewpoint, too. When he’s honest with me about his actions, I can acknowledge where he’s coming from, and we can be open with one another.




A Lost Understanding of True North




Many people no longer have an understanding about Yah, or they have purposely set aside that understanding. In the same speech from which the quote at the beginning of this chapter is taken, Martin Luther King Jr. suggested that Americans had “unconsciously left Yah behind.” They had become involved in enjoying new technologies and an abundance of material goods, and, without meaning to, they had let their knowledge of the Creator, and their interest in Him, slip from their conscious thoughts.




I believe the same is true for many people in the world today. Yet a knowledge of Yah and His nature is the only “rock” on which we can secure the foundation of character. This knowledge must be restored to individuals and to nations. To help us to live according to His nature, Yah created us with a moral compass—the conscience. Yet He also gave us additional safeguards and guides for living: His precepts, or principles.




The word principle may be defined as “a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption,” “a rule or code of conduct,” and “a primary source.” The Creator gave us specific principles to follow that would establish our character in keeping with His, help us to better understand His nature and align with His purposes, guide our relationship with Him and other people, and enable us to be successful in fulfilling our inherent purpose.




Previously, we talked about how principles are crucial to our leadership success—how we all need to establish moral standards by which we will live our lives. Just as our character requires a bedrock that will hold it secure, our personal standards and principles—through which our character develops— must be built on the bedrock of the standards and principles our Creator has given us.




The principles contained in the biblical record are time-tested, stable, and civically sound. They can secure true human development. They can enable us to rebuild our societies and nations on a foundation of sound values and ethics. We need spiritual bedrock as the anchor for our character so that, when the storms of life shake us, and the quakes of current events wrench against our convictions, we will remain strong and steadfast.




What are some basic truths about Yah that many people have forgotten? How can these truths become the bedrock for the development of our character? Let’s explore some answers to these questions.

We need spiritual bedrock as the anchor for our character.




We Are the Image and Likeness of Our Creator




We read in the first book of Moses,

Then Yah said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So Yah created man in his own image, in the image of Yah he created him; male and female he created them.3




The above passage was the Creator’s first public statement about human beings. He essentially said, referring to Himself, “Let Us create a being called ‘man’ and give him Our character—Our nature and characteristics.” In this case, the word “man” is a plural noun; it refers to the species called man— both men and women.




In the Hebrew—the original language in which this passage was written— the word for “image” is selem, or tselem. This term indicates “‘statue; image; copy.’...The word...means ‘image’ in the sense of essential nature....Human nature in its internal and external characteristics....”4 The word also signifies “a representative figure.”5 Humanity’s nature was designed to be an image of the Creator’s own nature, or character. Yah breathed His own life into man: “The Lord Yah...breathed into [the man’s] nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”6 Thus, the Creator gave human beings something of His own Spirit. All human beings are meant to be representatives of Yah.




The word “likeness” in the passage is translated from the Hebrew word demut. It has the sense of “the original after which a thing is patterned.”7 We were patterned after our Creator to manifest His character as we live and work on this earth.




Character Is the Creator’s Intrinsic Nature




What “pattern” are we cut from? How are we to represent the nature of the Creator through our character? Let’s look at several of Yah’s character qualities as illustrations.




Always Consistent




The Creator stated, “I the Lord do not change.”8 He is consistent; He is always the same. Yah changes things and circumstances. He also works in people so they can be transformed and become more like Him. But He Himself never changes. Accordingly, once a leader has established his life on solid, time-tested principles, he should continue to grow in knowledge, in experience, and in maturity, but he should never alter his good character. This means that even though you are progressing in life and growing in the exercise of your gifts, your fundamental nature should remain the same.




For example, it shouldn’t matter whether you have only ten dollars to your name or a net worth of ten million dollars—your values and moral standards shouldn’t deteriorate just because you have wealth (or power, or status, and so forth). You should be able to say something like the following in regard to your own experience: “I didn’t steal so-and-so’s twenty dollars when he dropped his wallet next to my car, and I’m not going to embezzle twenty million dollars now that I have access to my company’s pension funds. I won’t compromise my integrity.”




There are people who have known me in public life for more than thirty years, and the greatest compliment some of them have given me goes something like this: “What I like about you is that you’re still the same person. You have the same foundational beliefs, and you’re saying the same things.” I’d rather hear that said about me than anything else. Of course, I have grown personally, and I have developed professionally. But what these people are really telling me is that I have character. They are saying that I have been consistent; that, over the years, I haven’t changed the essence of who I am. That means a lot to me.




Change is, of course, an inevitable part of our lives. In fact, I wrote a book on the topic of change several years ago because I believe we must learn how to respond positively to it and use it to our benefit as we fulfill our purpose in life. Yet, I emphasized that, amid all the changes in our lives, the Creator is our one constant. There are certain things that cannot be changed—the character of Yah and the principles He established for us to live by. Therefore, we can—and we must—grow. But we should not change our character.




Amid all the changes in our lives, the Creator is our one constant.




Always Predictable




Because the Creator’s nature does not change, He is not one thing one day and another thing the next. He is predictable—in the best sense of the word. You know you can rely on Him. James, a first-century biblical writer, provided a fitting analogy for Yah’s constancy when he wrote, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”9




In contrast, someone who is unpredictable about fulfilling his responsibilities is like “shifting shadows.” He will confuse and inconvenience people—and he will often let them down in significant ways. To illustrate, suppose you had arranged with a family member to pick up your seven-year- old daughter from the school bus stop each day at 3:30 p.m. and stay with her at your house until you arrived home from work at 5:45 p.m. If your relative were unpredictable, she might decide on a whim one afternoon that she would skip picking up your daughter so she could go shopping, instead— without making alternate arrangements. She would cause your daughter to panic when no one came for her. You would become frantic about your child’s safety when you arrived home and discovered that your daughter wasn’t there, and that your family member—whom you reached on her cell phone at the mall—had no idea where she was. Your daughter might have wandered off and become lost or hurt—or worse. There also might be legal ramifications of child endangerment. Consistency—on many levels—is an essential character quality for meeting our responsibilities and maintaining good relationships with others, and it is an attribute that we are to model after our Creator.




Always Trustworthy




Yah’s consistency and predictability make Him trustworthy. If you’re not sure what someone is going to do, especially in regard to his conduct toward you, it’s difficult to trust him. But when someone has consistently demonstrated his good character in the past, it is easy to trust him.




In the Bible, when Yah interacted with a person, He would often bring up His faithful relationships with those who had lived in previous generations, or His past acts of power on behalf of His people, in order to assure the individual of His present power and trustworthiness. For example, He made statements such as these: “I am the Yah of your father, the Yah of Abraham, the Yah of Isaac and the Yah of Jacob”10; “I am the Lord, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself”11; “I am the Lord who brought you up out of Egypt to be your Yah....”12 With this evidence, He would attest to His absolute dependability.




We are to pattern our own behavior after the Creator’s trustworthiness. When an employer asks a prospective employee for references, what he is really asking for are the names of reputable individuals who can provide a record of the applicant’s competence and trustworthiness. He wants specific examples of how the applicant has demonstrated those qualities in his previous jobs or other life experiences.




Therefore, from time to time, we should ask ourselves, “How good are my ‘references’ regarding my trustworthiness? Would I receive good recommendations from my family, my friends, my neighbors, my coworkers, the members of my local community, the financial institution that holds the mortgage on my home, and so forth? In what areas of my life do I need to work on trustworthiness?”




Always Just




The Scriptures say, “The Lord is known by his justice.”13 Are you known for the same? Do you treat other people with impartiality, regardless of how they may treat you? Do you seek justice for those in your community? Let’s look at a few of the instructions the Creator has given us in regard to justice— instructions that apply to both everyday interactions and legal matters:




Do not spread false reports. Do not help a wicked man by being a malicious witness. Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit. If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it. Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.14




To be “just” means to regard everyone in an impartial way, not showing favoritism—whether you are dealing with friend or foe. May we be known for our justice, just as the Creator is.




Always Loving and Compassionate




“Yah is love.”15 The qualities of love and compassion are also foundational to the Creator’s character: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is [His] faithfulness.”16




Many people like to alleviate the suffering of people in their own nation or other nations who have experienced a great tragedy. For example, if a charitable organization makes an appeal for finances to help the victims of an earthquake or another natural disaster, the response rate is often very high. Yet it is sometimes easier for us to help people we don’t know than to show continual kindness and compassion to those we do know personally, especially after they have disappointed or failed us.




Consistency in overlooking the faults and forgiving the wrongs of our family members, friends, and associates is a challenge. We should be grateful that the Creator has an endless supply of compassion for us every day, and we should seek to emulate His qualities in our relationships with others.




Of course, this doesn’t mean that we should assist someone else to hurt himself or others by enabling his destructive behavior or addiction. Nor does it mean we should pretend everything is fine when serious issues exist in a relationship. However, whatever circumstances we are in, and whatever issues need to be resolved, we can approach others with the same principle of love with which the Creator approaches us—a love that values their creation in His image and seeks what is best for them physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.




The nature of Yah is the epitome of character. He manifests all of the positive qualities associated with virtue, all of the time. He is therefore our ultimate model of character. And because He is perfect in character, we can count on Him to always be consistent, predictable, trustworthy, just, loving, and compassionate toward us.