The wisdom of God, which the conscience generates out of our thoughts and affections, plays out in the time of our lives. Paul calls us to make the best use of the time gives us, so that we may live like wise people, rather than like unwise.

The conscience, we recall, does the work of processing thoughts and feelings into words and deeds. If our conscience has not been purified from dead works, our soul will not be healthy, and we will not refract the life of Christ into the world.

The conscience, mind, and heart make up the three spiritual components of the soul. They overlap in some ways, and interact at all times, processing affections and thoughts into words and deeds. But not all our thoughts or feelings are what they ought to be.

The Law of God serves as the rule book of the soul, the repository of values and default choices to which the conscience appeals in bringing mind and heart together for action in love.

The role of the conscience in the soul is to arbitrate between the thoughts of the mind and the affections of the heart, processing these together into words and deeds.

The mind receives and processes information, while the heart stores and deploys affections. In the soul, these overlap and interact, but they require the conscience to help them process ideas and feelings into actions.

The Christian life is not all happiness and rejoicing. It is that, to be sure, but many reasons exist why Christians will sorrow and grieve, and we need to know how to do so to the glory of God.

The Christian life is not all happiness and rejoicing. It is that, to be sure, but many reasons exist why Christians will sorrow and grieve, and we need to know how to do so to the glory of God.

We need courage to overcome the fear of growing, serving, or reaching out to others in new ways. Courage rises in our hearts out of the combination of fear of God, love for God and neighbors, gratitude, and hope. We can’t gin up courage; it must be nurtured along with all the other affections in our heart, so that it is always at the ready and sufficient for every challenge.

As we fear and obey God, we find Him to be gracious and lavish in His goodness, which leads us to love Him and to give thanks for His mercy and many gifts.

Keeping the heart with all diligence begins in the fear of God and aims at love for God and neighbors as the greatest affection. Thanksgiving is the most practical affection because it is the easiest to engage, and it trains our heart for all the other affections. Giving thanks is God’s will for us, so we should make sure we’re doing this as often as He prescribes.

Fear of God is the first affection which we must diligently guard in our hearts. Love for God and neighbors, however, is the greatest.