What Can Give You a Clear Conscience?

Stress and anxiety often parallel each other. Can you imagine the stress and anxiety Adam and Eve felt realizing they had triggered God’s disfavor? They immediately went into hiding. Here is the first account of a lapse in judgment and bad choices that resulted in a clash with God’s rules.

Anxiety creates a "fight or flight" reaction. Adam and Eve chose flight by trying to hide from God’s response to their disobedience. Imagine their anxiety and shame as they tried to hide from God. To their credit, they came out to face him, which eventually reduced their stress and fear.

God explained the future for Adam and Eve, and they accepted. All human beings are subject to moral failure by disregarding his boundaries and what is acceptable to him. Yet God comes looking for you and will never fail to find you. God will give you the essentials to help your recovery so you can have a new beginning and a clear conscience.  

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You will never succeed in life if you try to hide your sins. Confess them and give them up; then God will show mercy to you.

~Proverbs 28:13 Good News Bible

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What Causes Stress to Get Out of Bounds?

Stress is the product of a hurried, rushed lifestyle. My grandmother’s favorite quip for being stressed out was that she had “too many irons in the fire”. What she meant was that she needed a break from the stress and pressure she was experiencing. She realized it was her responsibility to make some needed changes.

Stress can produce impatience, irritability, even depression, when the pressures of life become overwhelming. Catching up at work or school may appear impossible when stress becomes intolerable. Whatever causes prolonged stress and anxiety, self-defeating thoughts and behaviors create even more stress.

A better strategy for stress management is to ask yourself, “Is what I’m doing honorable to God? If I am ‘God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which he prepared in advance’ for me to do, then I will focus on that promise.” 

Whatever God gives you to do, he will enable you to do it in a way that honors him.  

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May this God of peace prepare you to do every good thing he wants. May he work in us through Jesus Christ to do what is pleasing to him.

~Hebrews 13:21 God’s Word Translation

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Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week.