“He who merely knows right principles is not equal to him who loves them.” –Confucious
Most of us are taught the difference between right and wrong early in life, and we continue to learn throughout our lives. However, knowing what is right and wrong does not necessarily lead to doing what is right. Most people who commit crimes and inflict pain on others know that what they are doing is wrong, but they do it anyway.
If we are trained in the right values as children, and if we develop a strong conscience, we will be motivated to do what is right. If we don’t do what is right, we will suffer feelings of guilt. However, if we continue to do what we know is wrong, no matter how much our conscience tells us that what we are doing is wrong, our conscience will lose its ability to guide us.
A father once explained to his small son how the conscience works by comparing it to a small wheel inside us that has sharp points on it.
“When we do something wrong,” the father said, “the wheel starts to turn and the sharp points inflict pain on us so that we will return to doing what is right in order to avoid the pain.”
“But what if we continue doing bad things anyway?” the son asked. “Will we feel pain for the rest of our lives?”
“No,” replied the father. “If the little wheel is made to turn too much, the sharp points on it will gradually wear down smooth, so that we will feel less and less pain when we do bad things.”
Unless we take our conscience seriously, and allow it to guide our daily activities, our conscience will eventually lose its effectiveness as a guide. Of course, we want to be sure that our conscience is properly programmed. If a child grows up in a family who teaches him that it is all right to steal, that child will probably not feel guilt when he steals. On the contrary, the child may be made to feel guilty by the parent if he does not steal. It is important for each of us to reconsider our values from time to time to make sure that the principles by which we are living our lives are truly right.
Knowing sound principles of good living is the first step, but we must love and respect these principles so much that we live by them. It is not possible to do this and at the same time be overly selfish. A little selfishness is normal and necessary for our survival. But if we become too wrapped up in ourselves, we will be tempted to violate our principles at times just in order to get what we want.
Think about it.
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Copyright 2024
Allen W. Smith
