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Guilty Conscience
Genesis 42:21
"And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us."
In the story above, Joseph's brethren had come to buy corn in the land of Egypt. There was a great famine in the land, and the only country that seemed prepared for the famine was Egypt. What Joseph's brethren did not know was that he was second in command in Egypt. They did not know that they would have to deal with him. When they came into his presence, he recognized them and accused them of being spies. What is amazing about this verse is that they immediately thought this was happening because of what they did to Joseph. All of these years passed, and they were still carrying a guilty conscience about what they did to him.
Every action that you do leaves a mark on your conscience. I like to illustrate it this way; whatever you do on your computer leaves a mark on the hard drive. No matter how hard you try to erase those marks, they will always be there. Likewise, no matter how hard you try to forget your actions, you will always have the marks of your actions on your conscience. Everything you do is writing a mark on your conscience.
Not only does every action leave a mark on your conscience, but also every action has a way of coming back. You may think that once you do your action that it is done, but what you don't understand is that it will eventually come back. I have learned that those actions of which you are ashamed tend to come back at the most inopportune times. You may feel that your actions are in the past, but the consequences of your actions will come back.
When you do wrong, you would be wise to immediately deal with it if you don't want to continually deal with a guilty conscience. Wrong must be dealt with immediately. If it is not dealt with immediately, then you will always be looking over your shoulder wondering when it will be found out. Instead of living with a guilty conscience, deal with it so you can have a clear conscience.
The best way to live life is to live in such a manner that you can face anybody at any time. If you will do right, then you will never have to avoid people. If you do wrong and immediately get right with people, then you will not have to avoid those people whom you have wronged when you see them.
There is nothing worse than having to plan your life to avoid people. Live in such a manner that at any time you can come across the paths of people and be excited to see them. If you live right, you can do this. If you do wrong and immediately get it right, you can look people in the eyes and know you are right. But, if you harbor your wrong, you will always be looking over your shoulder wondering when people will find out. Don't live your life that way, live it with a clear conscience.