Spiritual Disciplines for the Soul: Examen of Conscience
William Gaultiere, Ph.D. © 2006
Jesus had no sin of his own to confess. He was sinless, perfect, righteous inside and out all of the time. But he was tempted by sin and he was sinned against and these things he confessed. He announced to his disciples time and again how he’d be betrayed, mistreated, and crucified. Then just before it happened he called out to the Father for resolve to face his trial. And when he was on the cross he cried out for the Father to forgive the people who were torturing him to death (Luke 23:34). Sin had no hold on him. He kept his soul pure and his conscience was clean.
The Apostle Paul saw Jesus’ holy light and sought to walk in it. His motto was, “I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man” (Acts 24:16, NIV). He advised his disciple Timothy and all Christ-followers to live the same way (1 Timothy 3:9, 2 Timothy 1:3). But before we can maintain a clear conscience we have to get our conscience cleansed in the first place! That’s what the blood of Jesus does for us when we turn to him and have our hearts sprinkled by it (Hebrews 9:14, 10:22).
The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and other Twelve Step recovery programs provide a powerful method for examining and cleansing our conscience of sin through confession. It’s the fourth step in the Twelve Steps: “Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.” Some addicts in recovery spend months on this step, purging their souls as they write in their journals and verbalize to their sponsor or a friend one example after another of their “shortcomings” and “defects of character.”
The Larger Catechism of the “Westminster Confession of Faith” written in 1643 uses the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-7) to guide Christians in making a searching and fearless moral inventory. I made my own version of ten questions that you can use to examine your conscience for examples of sins you’ve struggled with. Have you…
1. Looked to someone or something other than the Lord as your top priority?
2. Tried to control or manipulate God to do what you want?
3. Disrespected God’s holy character with unholy words? (cuss, slander, negativity)
4. Been distracted from or “too busy” to set aside regular time to worship God?
5. Neglected to honor (appreciate) your parents for the good they gave you?
6. Violated anyone with your anger? (temper, blame, criticism, resentment)
7. Lusted after someone who is not your spouse? (sex, porn, fantasy, flirting)
8. Taken something (object, time, praise) that doesn’t belong to you?
9. Been dishonest with someone? (lies, deceit, false self)
10. Coveted what someone else has? (envy, greed, selfish ambition)
It’s in the light of God’s Word that our sins are uncovered to be forgiven by God. All of Scripture is useful along these lines. Some other passages that are particularly helpful for an examination of conscience are Proverbs 6:16-19 (the seven deadly sins), Matthew 15:18-20 (Jesus’ list of the sins of the heart), Galatians 5:19-23 (Paul’s list of the “acts of the sinful nature” as compared to the “fruit of the Spirit”), and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (Paul’s list of those who will not inherit the kingdom of God).
