18 Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, 19 holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith. 20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme. 1 Timothy 1:18-20

I shudder to think what being handed over to Satan looks like, just to be taught a lesson. Perhaps it happens more often than we know.

Paul seemed to be emphasizing two sides of a single coin: faith and a good conscience. Our faith is what we do and what we believe during the day, and our conscience allows us to sleep peacefully at night. Of course both are much more than that.

To expand, our faith in Christ is what gives us a good conscience. In other words, when we’re doing the things we know we should be doing based on our faith in Christ, we can sleep easy at night. But when we’re not in a right relationship with Him (and begin doing and saying things that we know is not right), our conscience lets us know that we’re not right.

Having a good and clear conscience is not a trivial matter. Not having a clear conscience causes worry, stress, and ulcers. It’s difficult for many of us to remember the worries and stresses of those guilty consciences. That’s okay too.

The calm and carefree life is very underrated.