A Good Conscience

For my Sister - "Shi"
Happy Birthday
(I know how much you like David Jeremiah)

Acts 23:1
Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.”

On August 18, 1788, as he prepared to become the first President of the United States, George Washington wrote to Alexander Hamilton, saying, “I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.”
Character is to leadership what wood is to a tree—that inner “stuff” that provides its sturdiness and strength. Many a tree has blown down because it rotted on the inside. The notion that a person’s personal life has no bearing on his or her leadership is an unbiblical streak of postmodern thinking that ravages not only leaders, but their followers as well.
Each of us is a leader—of a group, a home, a project, a segment of God’s work. We need to maintain a clear conscience and be worthy of the calling we’ve received. “I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men,” wrote Paul in Acts 14:16. That’s important not only for ourselves, but for those we’re influencing.

Source: Jeremiah, D. (2002). Sanctuary : Finding moments of refuge in the presence of God (Page 369). Nashville, TN: Integrity Publishers.