A Clear Conscience

“But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”
1 Peter 3:14-17 (NIV)

What would you be willing to lose to keep your integrity?

Wang Ming Tau was one of China's greatest evangelists until the day he broke. Imprisoned for his faith, he cracked under pressure and recanted. They released him. But freedom felt worse than that cell. He knew he had failed God.

So he made a decision. He walked the streets of Beijing shouting, "I have betrayed my Lord! Jesus Christ is my Lord!" Arrested immediately, he spent the next nineteen years in a Chinese prison. 

After his release, broken in body but completely unbroken in spirit, he stood before a group of believers and asked if he could sing. Nobody expected what came next. 

In a frail, weathered voice, this man who had every reason to be bitter sang the hymn he had quietly sung every single day behind bars:

“All the way my Savior leads me–

What have I to ask beside?

Can I doubt His tender mercy,

Who throughout life has been my guide?

Heavenly peace, divinest comfort

Here by faith in Him to dwell!

For I know, what err befall me,

Jesus doeth all things well.”

This is exactly what Peter meant in today’s verses. He writes, "keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander." (1 Peter 3:16, NIV). A clear conscience isn't the absence of suffering. It's the presence of peace that comes from doing right, even when doing right costs you. 

Wang Ming Tau didn't sing that hymn because his circumstances were good. He sang it because his conscience was clear, and nothing they did to his body could touch what God had done in his soul.

A clear conscience is like rebar in concrete, keeping you steadfast no matter what comes. When someone at work takes credit for what you did, or a relationship turns cold because of your convictions, pray this with confidence, "Lord, You are in control. Even when life isn’t fair, You are faithful." 

Nineteen years of prison couldn't produce that song. A clear conscience could. It's available to you in the thing you've been carrying that no one else knows about.

Prayer: Lord, thank You that You reward those who put their trust in You, even when life doesn’t seem fair. Help me remain faithful, and trust that You see it and You honor it. Help me keep my conscience clear and my heart steady, even in the face of inconvenience and rejection. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.