A CONSCIENCE VOID OF OFFENSE – Acts 24:16
Acts 24:16 And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men.
Christ commanded us in the Sermon on the Mount that if we bring a gift to the altar, and there remember that we have an offense with a brother, that we are to leave our gift and go and reconcile with our brother (Matthew 5:23-24). Christ made it clear that we have the responsibility to keep a short list of offenses towards our fellow man.
In this passage, we see that Paul not only ensured that he kept his conscience clear towards God, but he also ensured that his fellow man did not have an offense against him. This means that Paul was quick to love his neighbor as himself. When Paul understood that he offended another, he would make the effort to take care of the problem.
What does it mean to keep your conscience void of offense towards man? It means that you are quick to apologize when you do something wrong that causes a wall to arise between you and them. If you know that there is a problem with you and another, you have the obligation to go to that individual and do whatever it takes to be at peace with them.
If you were in an accident and there was a large piece of glass hanging out of your leg, you would quickly go see a doctor and have them remove the glass, take care of the wound, and then bandage it up. You would not allow this piece of glass to stick out of your leg for the next year as an interesting conversation piece. Instead, you understand that because you love yourself, you are going to take care of yourself and ensure that you do not allow the glass to cause further injury.
Christ commanded us to love our neighbor as ourselves. This requires that we be attentive to the needs of others. When we see that there is a wall between us and another individual, it is our duty to God to love that person as we love ourselves and to ensure that this wound does not continue to fester. The longer we allow an offense to fester between us and another, the more harm we cause to our own life.
Just as leaving a piece of glass in our leg will cause our immune system to grow weaker over time, so allowing bitterness to grow in our life and the lives of others will cause our spiritual light to diminish. If sin is permitted to grow in our life, than it will decrease our ability to serve God with all our heart.
You have a duty to daily examine your life. You must keep a short list with God and be ready to confess how you have fallen short of HIS perfect plan for your life. Remember that Christ commanded us to love God with all our heart and love our neighbor as ourselves. When you confess your sins, you are demonstrating your love to God by ensuring that your conscience is void of offense against God. When you clear up offenses between you and your neighbor, than you are demonstrating that you love your neighbor as yourself.
You have taken the time to understand how God desires you to act towards HIM and towards your neighbor. However, are you going to implement this knowledge in your life? You can be religious by claiming that you have a lot of knowledge, but true Christianity is living your life in accordance with the principles that you have learned as you have studied HIS words. Add knowledge to your life so that you can live according to HIS principles.